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Mokwena wants Sundowns to play without fear
Mokwena seems to have an ace up his sleeve on how to retain possession of the ball.
Mokwena gives some bit of freedom to his players. Picture: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images.
The late Emmanuel “Scara” Ngobese was trending last week after Manchester United’s Antony made a 360 degree turn in a 3-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League, which mirrored what Ngobese did in his heydays for Kaizer Chiefs.
ALSO READ: Sundowns coach Mokwena hails ‘ambidextrous’ Mailula
Some classify the 360 turn as insulting showboating, while it is widely cheered in other regions.
This sparked a debate on the freedom given to players to express themselves in the DStv Premiership.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena (right) is not giving anyone licence to showboat, but also wants to give his players a bit of leg room when it comes to losing the ball in key areas.
Mokwena seems to have an ace up his sleeve on how to retain possession of the ball. This comes after the defending champions beat Royal AM 3-0 on Saturday to make sure that they go into the Fifa World Cup break sitting at the summit of the log.
“What we struggled with in the first half was the build-up, we could not get through to our front line and that dealt a blow to the confidence of Haashim Domingo and Neo Maema to play between the lines. We could see that with their body language and we had to try and rebuild that and try to be braver in those positions,” said Mokwena.
“In those positions you don’t want to lose the ball but it is okay to lose the ball, because when the opposition starts to initiate the attack it’s usually a centre-back or a defensive midfielder.
“If you counter-press aggressively in those positions, you have got the possibilities to find a defence that is not structured. We are saying to them, don’t be shy, don’t be afraid to lose the ball.
“If you lose it, counter-press and don’t be afraid to play in those areas,” the Masandawana mentor added, before he spoke about how Sundowns managed to win all of their last six league games.
“It is just team-work. No one is bigger than this club. We are just servants and you tend to forget about yourself. That’s what we try to do as a technical team – we live, breathe and eat this team.”
