Sundowns’ Mngqithi not buying Larsen’s Dynamos underdog talk
'Do not want to be fooled by what Clinton is saying because he is coming to spring a surprise', says the Sundowns co-coach.
Manqoba Mngqithi, Coach of Mamelodi Sundowns. Picture: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix
Having gone head-to-head with Clinton Larsen for a number of years in the flight, Manqoba Mngqithi knows that Larsen’s underdog talk is talk shop and he believes that the Summerfield Dynamos coach has an ace up his sleeve. Mamelodi Sundowns host the ABC Motsepe side in the quarterfinal of the Nedbank Cup this Saturday at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
“There is no game that you go to play without seeing a possibility that you can steal it. When Clinton says they stand no chance and you listen to that, you’ll be fooled. The fact of the matter is that when he was coaching Celtic, he would come with a very low block against us to try and make sure that he frustrates us as much as possible and steal the result in the end,” said Mngqithi.
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At some point, Downs lost 5-0 to Larsen’s Bloemfontein Celtic side and at times, they would absorb waves of attack only to pounce at the death. Something Mngqithi anticipates when the two sides meet.
“He has done that several times. Now he is coming with this team that is very much unknown to many people and it is easy for people to think it is going to be a walkover because we are playing an ABC Motsepe team. But this is one of the well-resourced teams in the ABC and they have qualified for the playoffs to get into the GladAfrica Championship. Do not want to be fooled by what Clinton is saying because he is coming to spring a surprise and we have to guard against any element of complacency and arrogance because we don’t want to get hurt,” said the Downs mentor.
“We are playing against a team that has nothing to lose. We must never take that for granted in football because if you beat them, so what? But if they beat you, there is so much to be said. If there are any games that I am very particular about are the games where everybody expects me to win. These are the most stressful for a coach because you want to make sure that you don’t leave any stone unturned there because players are usually not motivated to play those matches.” he added.
