Sundowns co-coach Mngqithi insists Williams is not their number one goalkeeper

Ronwen Williams started for Mamelodi Sundowns in their 2-0 DStv Premiership opening day win over Cape Town City on Friday night, but co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi insists he is not the club’s new number one goalkeeper.

Sundowns returns to action on Wednesday when they host TS Galaxy at Loftus and it remains to be seen if Williams will retain his place between the posts.  

Bafana Bafana captain Williams faces stiff competition from Denis Onyango, Kennedy Mweene and Reyaad Pieterse for a starting place and this has raised fears he may not get regular game time.

In the event he doesn’t play regularly, his Bafana Bafana chances will be under serious threat with the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers set to resume early next year.

If opportunities are hard to come by at Chloorkop, where he joined from SuperSport United, Bafana coach Hugo Broos will have a difficult decision to make regarding the last line of defence with Veli Mothwa and Bruce Bvuma possible replacements.

Speaking after he kept a clean sheet against CT City on his debut, Mngqithi made it clear that Williams is not their number one goalkeeper and they chose him as part of his induction.

“It’s very important to induct a player that you think is going to be key for you going forward with matches like this.

“Because if you play him against a so-called smaller team and he doesn’t perform well, then everybody will be on top of him and he is no longer too sure whether the decision to join us was right or wrong. With Ronwen, the decision was to try to induct him as quickly as possible, because the road ahead is a little bit rough and competition in that space is going to be rough.

“But it is always better when he is going to be playing on the back of a performance against CT City. He has also played in an intense match and the save he pulled, maybe now will make him have his nerves calm a little bit, but that doesn’t suggest he is number one in the team in the goalkeeping department.

“Competition is wide open, all of them we trust and believe in, because they have done well for us.”

Last season, Sundowns co-coaches Mngqithi, Steve Komphela and Rulani Mokwena rotated Onyango, Mweene, Pieterse and Ricardo Goss, who has since joined SuperSport on loan, and there is a possibility of this trend continuing.

Asked about Williams’ move — from being a definite starter at SuperSport to a possible no-starter at Sundowns — former Bafana goalkeeper Brain Baloyi said: “It was a risk worth taking, this is a big opportunity for him to compete against the goalkeeper [Onyango] who was the best in Africa for many years.

“It is also an opportunity to learn from Denis, because he is vastly experienced. At SuperSport he was guaranteed to play and that could have its own negative effects on Bafana because of not being constantly pushed by someone at the club.”

Baloyi added that if he doesn’t play regularly it will definitely be a problem for Broos and Bafana. “If he doesn’t play at Sundowns, there will be a problem for Bafana and if you look at Sundowns last season they used three goalkeepers regularly in all competitions.

“Having said that, I believe he has the talent and desire to fight for a place in the starting team or at least be number two on the pecking order. This move is definitely a risk but I believe it is a risk worth taking.

“The constant pressure he is going to get at a big club like Sundowns is bigger than what he was used to at SuperSport — and that will definitely be good for Bafana.”

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