Pitso Mosimane shows he's a cut above

Pitso Mosimane guided Mamelodi Sundowns to a 2-0 win over fellow PSL title contenders BIdvest Wits on Saturday. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Pitso Mosimane guided Mamelodi Sundowns to a 2-0 win over fellow PSL title contenders BIdvest Wits on Saturday. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Published Feb 27, 2017

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JOHANNESBURG - Pitso Mosimane’s masterclass in orchestrating Mamelodi Sundowns’ 2-0 victory over Bidvest Wits at the weekend revealed another side of the former Bafana Bafana coach - that he also subscribes to the horses for courses approach.

Mosimane made six changes to the starting line-up he had picked against Platinum Stars earlier in the week, while his Wits counterpart Gavin Hunt fielded the same strong XI following a 5-0 win over Baroka FC.

It wasn’t the best football you will see in an Absa Premiership clash between two title challengers, but the manner in which Mosimane set up his team to avenge the MTN8 final defeat against Wits in October last year spoke to Sundowns’ credentials as overwhelming favourites to

retain the championship.

“I made a lot of changes and to be honest, three of them were forced because of injuries but it was not about giving others opportunities.

“We needed to get the right personnel for this type of match,” Mosimane explained of his tactics. “I always say you can’t study biology when you are going to write a geography test.

“You’ve got to study what is coming to you, and we knew Wits wouldn’t change their game plan because they are destroying people with their strength. They are good.”

Wits were not necessarily played off the park, Hunt pointing out that his men did not use the chances created to sneak in a goal. The Brazilians, however, did manage to cut out the supply from their fullbacks and wingers, with the match more physical than free-flowing.

“There was an instance in the match where (Hlompho) Kekana was angry with Tiyani (Mabunda) because we practiced closing those long throw-ins from Nazeer Allie to (Gabadinho) Mhango,” said Mosimane. “When Wits beat Baroka, their second goal came from the throw, straight to Mhango, who lobbed the ball over to Daine Klate to score.

“That’s how they play and you can’t decide you want to play football against them, you will get punished. I am sorry people didn’t see the kind of game they wanted, but for us this was like a Champions League game and we had to also have the right kind of speed and mentality at the back.

“It’s better to have (Soumahoro) Bangaly in defence than Ricardo (Nascimento), who wants to play the ball on the ground. This was not that type of match.”

Sundowns broke the deadlock through captain Kekana on the stroke of half-time and buried the game in referee’s optional time in the second when Sibusiso Vilakazi rolled the ball into net as Wits pressed high in search of a last-gasp equaliser.

Four months ago, the Clever Boys tore Sundowns apart in a 3-0 win to be crowned MTN8 champions. Mosimane was clearly still hurting from that defeat.

“We looked at that game and decided there is no way we were going to play like that again,” the Sundowns coach said.

“If we did that, then we would not have learnt any hard lessons by repeating the same mistakes. We made sure they don’t get Klate and (Sifiso) Hlanti on the ball or (Phakamani) Mahlambi.

“If you want to see good football then come to our game against Chippa United (on Tuesday). But for this one, we couldn’t play like that because it was a heavyweight match.”

@superjourno

The Star

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