Why Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane will not tolerate 'selfish' players
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has learnt some hard lessons after the realities of life under Covid-19 hit home in the last few days.
Sundowns have played two games since football returned (against BidVest Wits and Orlando Pirates) and Mosimane said he's learnt that substitutions have to be made very early in the game. “What I have learned during the two matches that we have played since the return is‚ do the subs as quick as possible‚” said Mosimane.
Teams are allowed to make up to five substitutions during a game as part of a temporary measure that was approved by International Football Association Board (IFAB) to protect the welfare of players who went almost five months without competitive action.
Sundowns beat Wits 3-2 in a hard-fought Nedbank Cup semifinal on Saturday and then followed it up with another tough outing against Orlando Pirates that ended goalless on Tuesday night.
Mosimane used his five substitutes in the league match against Pirates with Andile Jali replacing Lyle Lakay‚ Tebogo Langerman coming on for Mosa Lebusa‚ Ali Meza for Keletso Makgalwa‚ Sibusiso Vilakazi for Themba Zwane and Wayne Arendse for Motjeka Madisha.
“We have told the players that if you feel any discomfort or anything unusual‚ you have to come out because we have five subs and three periods to do those subs in the game.
"You cannot have a player who is selfish and wants to continue playing while we can make subs. If you get injured now‚ the league will be finished by the time you come back.”
Mosimane praised defender Motjeka Madisha after he returned to his best with an assured performance to make up for the poor performance he displayed against Wits last weekend.
“It is very important for us as coaches to build confidence in the players when they make mistakes by making sure that we have trust in them‚" he said.
"I understand these things because I was a football player myself. If you take him out of the team because he made a mistake‚ it means the player you put in to replace him will be scared to make a mistake because the same thing is going to happen to him.
“I can talk about many players in our team who have made mistakes in the past but we backed them to recover from those experiences. They came back the next game and they improved because we know that they are good enough to play at this level.
"I sat down with him when everything was settled and we went through the game and sorted it out.”