Matthew Booth is a man who is passionate about his former team and in this mini-interview, the lanky one time Bafana centre back explains how new signing Sipho Mbule can get a chance in the Mamelodi Sundowns team and why he feels sorry for goalkeepers Kennedy Mweene and Dennis Onyango.
“I want to see Mbule playing as an eight, I want to see him in a creative role. The same role where Hashim Domingo plays and where Mkhulise plays. The role where we see Maluila dropping deeper at times,” Matthew Booth told ThisIsFootball.Africa.
“Unfortunately for him those players are ahead of him in the pecking order, which is obvious just judging from the lack of game time Mbule gets. What he’s got to do is put his head down when they come back into camp. They will start training again soon, so he’s got to work hard and become more competitive.
“He needs to show that hunger to win a starting berth and that goes for all the players that have not had a lot of game time. We know he is a quality player. We saw this at SuperSport, and not forgetting the formidable partnership that he had with Mokoena behind him and him playing as an eight. In fact, that same partnership they had at SuperSport could still work out to be a successful partnership for Sundowns.”
“You got to feel sorry for Kennedy Mweene and Denis Onyango, I mean Denis didn’t put a foot wrong last season and him and Kennedy are both top class experienced goalkeepers. Naturally when South Africa’s number one comes in, it’s a big move, the coaching staff and obviously Wendell Robinson, the goalkeeper coach, know that Williams is their number one and that is hard for Dennis and Kennedy,” continued Booth.
“Again, Williams hasn’t really put a foot wrong and has done well. His distribution has been fantastic, his shot stopping ability is also top class. He has had one or two average games but other than that he has been fantastic for Sundowns. When a team has so much possession, that’s when you need a goalkeeper who is aware and concentrating all the time and Williams has that ability.
“He also understands that he can’t afford a rush of blood when he does get action and I think that’s a sign of maturity from Ronwen. You can that he has shown that. He remains on his toes when things come his way, so he has been impressive especially because he took the number one spot from the two, three top quality goalkeepers that Sundowns have already got on their books .”
