The Masandawana co-coach has discussed a bit of the tactical analysis his club have done ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash
Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena is respectfully wary of Kaitano Tembo’s SuperSport United side ahead of Saturday’s Tshwane derby at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The match between the Pretoria clubs kicks off at 15:00 and is a top-of-the-table encounter: Downs lead the way with 24 points, with Matsatsantsa second on the standings with 22 points.
SuperSport have shaken off a slow start to the campaign and are firing on all cylinders now under the guidance of Tembo, who was known in his own playing days for Matsatsantsa and the Zimbabwean national team as a hard-as-nails defender.
“SuperSport are probably the one team who are profiled very close to the profile of its manager,” Mokwena commented as per Sundowns media.
“Probably the one team that adopts the personality of its coach, Kaitano being a very good coach who has come through the structures at SuperSport United to become the head coach.
“He’s always had teams which are just as aggressive and mentally strong as he was as a football player, very difficult to break down.”
Mokwena mentioned the threat posed by in-form strike duo Bradley Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza, and also talked about the tactical battle his side will need to overcome:
“They’ve had a very decent start to the season, quietly gone about their business with a lot of tactical flexibility,” he continued.
“They maybe look to overload the midfield with an extra midfielder like [Jamie] Webber. And then you’ve got really different challenges against a midfield three in relation to when you play against a midfield two of [Teboho] Mokoena and [Sipho] Mbule for example.
“When they overload the midfield then you’ve got to look for other areas where you can look for spaces.
“They have had very stable with their line-up, a line-up which gives a lot more tactical flexibility.
“That gives you a couple more questions that need to be answered, you’ve just got to be prepared for those scenarios, they’ve got different ways of hurting you and you have got to be ready for the ways they can adopt in relation to the type of structure which they employ onto the pitch.”
Mokwena, one of three co-coaches at Sundowns, also spoke of the need for his players to keep cool in the heat of the derby battle.
“If we play the match and don’t play the occasion, we should be okay. We shouldn’t be carried away by the occasion of it being a derby. Our sole focus should be to play it as 11 versus 11,” he concluded.
“Without undermining the importance of the derby, for us its one of 30 [league] matches which we have to play this season.”
