Off-form Zwane is still key for Sundowns – Pitso
Themba Zwane has been a shadow of himself since the domestic season resumed as he continues to search for the fine form that he enjoyed before the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.
Themba Zwane of Mamelodi Sundowns (Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix)
Zwane is Mamelodi Sundowns’ top goalscorer in the Absa Premiership with nine goals but he has failed to register a single goal since the resumption of the league games following the coronavirus-enforced break.
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Zwane has only finished one league game and had a cameo role off the bench in Masandawana’s previous match against Maritzburg United.
“If we are honest, Themba is our most important player. Since we came back, he has not had an influence on the game as much as he has been for the last couple of years. We have to be honest and make some necessary changes,” said his coach Pitso Mosimane, who reveals how his talk with Zwane went.
“We played Promise Mkhuma in his place (against Maritzburg) and he played very well. Themba understands, we had our talk and he accepts, he says ‘coach I am not at my best, I don’t know what is happening’. I told him it is the way it is, let’s move on. He has done so well for us for all these years for us to today think differently about him. We need him, he is an important player, same as Sibusiso Vilakazi, Gaston Sirino, we also need them. They are not at their best at this point in time but they are key players,” said Mosimane.
The defending champions will be looking to narrow the gap between themselves and log leaders Kaizer Chiefs when they take on Golden Arrows on Monday evening at the Dobsonville Stadium, where they will search for their first league win since the restart. Downs will be without Andile Jali and Ricardo Nascimento who are serving suspensions.
“We cannot be complaining about who is going to come in or whether we have players or not. We have personnel,” said Mosimane.
He added: “We have enough numbers to replace. What is better in terms of personnel is that we got Mosa Lebusa back and we have Anele Ngcongca back and the defence is more stable. Yes Ricardo is not there but Mosa is there to fill in, Andile is not there and we have Rivaldo Coetzee and Tiyani Mabunda. We can also play Sibusiso Vilakazi in midfield.”
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