Sundowns can still be better, vows Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane

Published Feb 19, 2019

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THE Mamelodi Sundowns train is slowly gaining momentum, a sight that should scare their rivals as Downs have kept up with them in the Absa Premiership race while still “struggling”.

Sundowns are three points and three games behind log-leaders Bidvest Wits. One of those games is tonight’s clash with Polokwane City at Loftus Versfeld. A win by a two-goal margin would take the reigning league champions to the top - and test coach Pitso Mosimane’s premise that should his team be No. 1, they will not relinquish the position until the season ends.

As much as Sundowns have done fairly okay so far, they’re far from the free-flowing team that destroyed teams in the 2015/16 season to win the league in record fashion or the consistent unit they were in the last campaign to win the championship for a record eighth time in the PSL-era. The burning question then becomes, if they can keep up with Wits and Orlando Pirates while not at their best, what will they do when they hit their full stride?

They have answered that in patches. They’ll be devastating. The Brazilians bounced back from their loss to AmaZulu and elimination in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup by Chippa United to score six goals in two matches, and the energy and fighting spirit was there. Those traits are important in championship-winning teams.

“If you look at the period when we were playing the qualifiers for the CAF Champions League, it was beautiful," Mosimane said. "We scored four here and five there. Then we went through a period where we were winning marginally. We went to Chiefs, won but we capitalised on a mistake. We went to Highlands and won. We scored two but in the second half we were holding tight. We weren’t really that good.

“It says that we aren’t really where we want to be. We are a team in construction. If we’re really convincing, we would win six in a row and Sundowns can win five and six games in a row. We haven’t done that. Sometimes the team catches fire and it comes out good, but we’ll get there. We aren’t free-flowing like other teams are.”

Sundowns’ best quality under Mosimane is that they know how to put on a show when it matters. They do well in the final stretch compared to the start of the season. They bring their A-game in big matches, like they did against Wydad Casablanca in a game that Mosimane describes as the club’s best performance.

They have to bring that same mindset against Polokwane who will frustrate Sundowns by defending in numbers and look to hit the Brazilians on the break. With top spot up for grabs, and a semblance of a rest since returning from Abidjan where they were held to a goalless draw, expect Sundowns to look to steamroll Polokwane.

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