Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has explained why he fielded a completely different starting line-up in Tuesday night’s game against Maritzburg United.
Mokwena made several changes to the team that started against Wydad Casablanca in the Caf Champions League last Saturday.
“Today was tough for us. We had to wake up so early, we were in camp. We arrived only on Sunday from Morocco,” Mokwena told SuperSport TV after the game.
“The next day, we had a training session. The crazy coach that I am, I changed the players, I changed the system, we tried something completely new that was birthed from watching training on Monday. So we did training and two minutes before the end of the session, I said, ‘Hang on, I think we have to change the system’.”
Mokwena said the switch had worked out well despite the draw, which lifted Maritzburg off the bottom place in the standings.
“It was so good with that new system with Rivaldo (Coetzee), Grant (Kekana) and Terrence (Mashego) playing a completely different role as what you would normally have in play. The buildup was completely different. We had to adapt to a new way of building from the back in the second half, we struggled a little bit. And I think that was the cause for us to be under a little bit of pressure because we couldn’t get the first pass out. And when we did get the first pass out, we couldn’t get the second pass out. And then at times, we resorted to the long balls, which they were very comfortable dealing with,” Mokwena said.
“I’m very proud of these players what they’ve done this season, over 10 months. This is a competition that you have to win with consistency. And the way this group of players has done it deserves a lot more credit than what is given, because they’ve been magnificent, and they’ve been magnificent over 10 months. And that is incredible … incredible.”
