With a rejuvenated Mamelodi Sundowns delivering a near flawless performance crowned by an emphatic triumph, Pitso Mosimane should be walking tall with his chest stuck out.
After all Sundowns were in sublime form when they defeated Moroka Swallows 4-1 in an enthralling Absa Premiership encounter at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday night. Tactically Mosimane was spot on. The temperamental coach is resisting the temptation of being over confident.
“We look okay but we must not get excited. We must keep our feet on the ground. We started well. We entered where we wanted to enter – on the sides. We had so many opportunities. We could have converted more. I am only looking at the opportunities we created,” said Mosimane.
“It’s easy for me to take credit but I think we played proper football in terms of moving the ball well and fast and we got behind their defence quicker and bringing the ball in to the box to score. Maybe we had a very good period. We are peaking at the right time.”
A brace by Cuthbert Malajila, a header by Alje Schut and a wicked freekick by Teko Modise delivered all the points to Sundowns assisting the Brazilians to reduce the deficit between them and log leaders Kaizer Chiefs to 12 points. Mosimane fielded an attack minded side with a number of changes in the side. Rightback Siyanda Zwane impressed as he was effective both in defence and attack. Mosimane revealed that the deployment of Ramahlwe Mphahlele in central defence is in preparation for the imminent departure of Schut, who is hanging his boots at the end of the season.
“Alje Schut is retiring and he is leaving. I need to bring somebody to play centreback and that’s why I played Rama at centreback. I am happy with Zwane because the poor guy we moved him from Arrows to here (Sundowns) and he has been struggling. He is strong on defence. Going in and bringing crosses, proper crosses. It's good for him to play at this level. Let’s see what happens, maybe he could get a chance to play in the national team, fight with people like (Siyabonga) Nhlapo from Wits. Maybe he can get a place. I am happy Bra Shakes was here,” said Mosimane.
While Mosimane had a dream start to this year, his counterpart Fani Madida had a nightmarish start to his tenure as the head coach of Swallows. Madida, the erstwhile goalpoacher, was at pains to explain how his men got mesmerised and conceded four goals in the first 25 minutes of the match.
“There are negatives and also positives out of it. First 20 minutes we chocked and they came with wing play. They had good movement especially the wingers. Inside midfield, they confused our midfielders and opened our defence with crosses. We also didn’t track back. That discipline in terms of coming back, it takes an effort. If you get paid as a professional footballer you must cover your teammates well,” said Madida.
Swallows goalkeeper Greg Etafia was at fault on a number of occasions as Downs had a field day. The most glaring error was when Modise found the back of the net from about 30m. Madida did not want to fault the Nigerian goalkeeper.
“Goalkeepers make mistakes. It was one of those mistakes,” said Madida. With Swallows positioned 13th with 19 points, Madida will have to work hard to help the Dube Birds out of the danger zone. The Chiefs legend is aiming for a top eight finish.
“If Swallows finish within the top eight bracket that would be an achievement for me. Now I can start to think about other things. Generally in football you are given a contract but that contract doesn’t mean you will stay until the end. The better we perform the longer I will stay,” said Madida. - The Star