Sundowns coach Mosimane: ‘If you want to win the league‚ you must say it’

17 July 2020 - 14:18 By Mninawa Ntloko
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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane and Patrice Motsepe during the Mamelodi Sundowns 50th anniversary announcements in Sandton on May 21, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane and Patrice Motsepe during the Mamelodi Sundowns 50th anniversary announcements in Sandton on May 21, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has never been afraid to signal his intentions for the league title before the start of a new season and insists that he will never tell his players to “take it one game at a time”.

Most coaches prefer to be elusive when they are asked about their intentions but Mosimane‚ who has never been one to mince his words‚ says he sees no reason to be vague when it’s common knowledge that he’s one of the strong contenders for the championship every campaign.

“I believe that if you speak about being good all the time‚ you will end up practising being good because you are speaking about it everyday‚” he said.

“If you speak about being good‚ every time you speak to your children about being good‚ speak to your family‚ speak to your brothers‚ about the spirit of being good‚ you end up adopting being good and you behave like that.

“So I speak the win‚ I speak the challenge‚ I speak competition‚ I strive on it and I live it. So I end up living it‚ so if you talk about something‚ you live it.

“I like the challenge‚ I like competition and it doesn’t mean that I always come out on top – I fail sometimes‚ you know.

“But you always win more than you fail and it will create pressure‚ big pressure‚ because people say‚ ‘He talks too much‚ what’s wrong with him?’

“So you have to live it because you know that they are coming back … everybody is holding onto your words and waiting to say‚ ‘He said [he would win the league]‚ look now‚ he didn’t win the league. What happened?

“So you live on the challenge and you do not become afraid that should you not win the league‚ what will happen‚ maybe it’s better to keep quiet.”

Mosimane said he enjoyed the psychological battles he had with Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojević when the two sides were gunning for the league title in the last two seasons.

Sredojević preferred to adopt a more measured approach and often tried to lower expectations in a bid to minimise the pressure on his players.

Mosimane did the opposite and talked a big fight that he eventually backed up when Sundowns pipped Pirates to the title in successive seasons.

“That is why I like the rivalry with ‘Micho’ [former Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojević] and I played on it when they said they did not want to win the league‚” Mosimane said.

“Do you remember? They [Pirates] said it for two years.

“Pirates said‚ ‘We take it one game at a time’‚ you know the usual story. ‘One game at a time‚ we follow the process and the outcome will sort itself out … ’. It’s a good talk and I like that.

“But I prefer to put my body on the line and I say it: ‘I want to win the league’. The fact is they also want to win the league.

“How do I know? At one stage [Thembinkosi] Lorch was at a press conference‚ I don’t know if you were there‚ and he admitted that they were gunning for it. I said‚ ‘Here’s the young man now telling us the truth’. My belief is if you want to win the league‚ you must say it.

“Then you will live for it [the challenge and the pressure] and it should happen because you behave like that. You should behave winning the league.

“If I say to the players‚ ‘One step at a time‚ one game at a time … to where? To where? There must be an objective‚ there must be something we are looking at‚ the trophy.

“How do we arrive at the trophy? Yes‚ of course it is one step at a time‚ but the trophy is the goal. And once I lose it you know what I always say.

“I will go back and fetch it because I know where it is. So it puts more pressure on me‚ it puts more pressure on the players‚ but I live on pressure. I must enjoy the ride‚ otherwise what’s in it for me?”

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