In a somewhat indirect manner, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi hinted that his team would possess the tactical know-how to handle a formidable Stellenbosch FC in their MTN8 semi-final first-leg on Wednesday night at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.
The second leg is scheduled for Sunday, at Moses Mabhida Stadium, in Durban.
Stellies had an incredible run last season, finishing third in the league and winning the Carling Knockout Cup.
Mngqithi explained what challenges Stellenbosch could face in the new season.
“I think Stellenbosch have done very well. As a team you need to understand yourselves. They’re not changing coaches which shows a very clear philosophy, and believe me it’s working up until a certain point.
“I remember after winning the MTN8 with Golden Arrows, your expectations from management and everyone start to shift. They start to believe that the team should be in the top four.”
The coach said the extra stress on a team can easily create problems.
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“I always make the example about [Claudio] Ranieri at Leicester City. He won the league with a lot of counter attacks and they were strong on set-pieces. Immediately after winning the league with Leicester, expectations grew.
“If you had asked them at the beginning of the season – would you have been happy to finish in the top eight, they would have said yes. They would have not been sure about the top four.
“But after winning the league, Ranieri lost his job because their expectations changed.”
The warning continued for Stellenbosch from Mngqithi.
“I’m just a little bit scared that Stellenbosch can go that direction. The team has matured and the expectations have grown. A bit of that happened with Maritzburg United, when they started to do so well and produce a lot of players.
“It’s very important that a club understands its culture and playing concept. That culture and playing concept will always put them somewhere in the league. Once they do that, they can celebrate doing better than expected. But when you want to compete with everyone because of that, it becomes a challenge.”
Finally, Mngqithi spoke about the tactics of Stellenbosch and hinted why his charges could have the better of his opponents.
“They are solely based on counter-attack, and they are very strong on that. They can only play that way as long as teams don’t respect them. As long as teams come to them. When teams start to sit back, they must find solutions to play against a packed defence.”
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