Former Kaizer Chiefs coach, Ernst Middendorp has praised Rhulani Mokwena’s impact at Mamelodi Sundowns, and believes the system the former Orlando Pirates coach has brought to the team is difficult to play against.
The Tshwane giants had restructured its Technical Team last month, with Mokwena handed the head coach reigns, and Steve Komphela became an assistant coach, meanwhile Manqoba Mngqithi was named a senior coach.
Since Mokwena was appointed head coach, Sundowns performance has risen drastically, they have won four matches, having scored 15 goals without conceding in all competitions.
Some players like Cassius Mailula, Haashim Domingo and others have been instrumental in Downs’ storming performance under Mokwena, and it has seen them open a five-point lead at the top of the standings, as well as lifting their first-ever Carling Black Label Cup.
The German tactician believes that Mokwena is tactically intelligent, and Masandawana’s players are beginning to buy into his ideas.
“There are five main principles of attacking, there are five main principles of defending, and if you see Rhulani, the message, unfortunately, the analysts, the commentators, didn’t really highlight it on last Saturday in the game about what I saw from SuperSport,” Middendorp told Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
“But if you take just one main principle in attacking, the support, if somebody has a ball on the side of Sundowns, it doesn’t matter if it is a central midfielder, immediately, he has support. He has immediately five, six around him in the right direction, in the right distance. Five, six possibilities where he can play.
“Everybody moves together into the right direction, and if you go to the defending side, when he loses possession immediately, it came back in the last weeks immediately, is a repressing with a well-organised rest defence.
“To talk about this principle. I would like to listen to commentators, to listen to analysts, to see what’s the difference at the moment between teams like Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns or AmaZulu.
“But the results tell us currently how far the distance is between Sundowns and the rest of the bunch.”
Also Read: Mailula – I still need to improve my game
