Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi fears Chiefs may be over-relying on younger players

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has expressed fear Kaizer Chiefs may be over-reliant on younger players Samkelo Zwane, Mduduzi Shabalala, Wandile Duba and Mfundo Vilakazi. 

Coach Nasreddine Nabi has shown faith in Zwane, Shabalala, Duba and Vilakazi this season and they have often responded with good performances but Mngqithi is fearful pressure at Chiefs may break some of them. 

In the 4-0 Carling Knockout thrashing by Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium on Saturday, Nabi once again showed confidence with Zwane, Shabalala and Duba with Vilakazi starting on the bench. 

Zwane came under a lot of scrutiny and criticism because it was his mistake that led to Njabulo Blom conceding a penalty that was put away by Iqraam Rayners for the opening goal.

Vilakazi broke down in tears after the match.

Rayners ended his shift with a brace of goals while Peter Shalulile and Khuliso Mudau claimed one each as the Brazilians booked a place in the semifinal stage of the tournament in style. 

“I don’t want to sound bad, but the youngsters that Kaizer Chiefs have brought into their first team are very good young boys,” said Mngqithi. 

“Mduduzi Shabalala is a big factor in the game and he got some good moments today and Duba also played exceptionally well. This is the feeling I have when I look at these boys like Mfundo Vilakazi when he is given a chance because they are all very good football players.” 

Though Mngqithi believes they are talented players, he is concerned they may be weighed down by the heavy load of carrying a big club like Chiefs. 

“But the biggest mistake that you can make with players like those is to put the load of a team as big as Kaizer Chiefs on their shoulders. But honestly speaking, they are exceptionally gifted players and I would love to have them in my team.”

Mngqithi said they did not target the inexperienced Zwane, Shabalala, Duba and Vilakazi. 

 “We don’t target youngsters, we target senior players and look to exploit some of their shortcomings. These youngsters are all very impressive and I know the coach is probably forced to play them because they are the players they have at the moment. 

“My fear is if the load and pressure is on their shoulders, it might probably break some of them down but I am still impressed with how the coach and the team play these boys. They are influential and in almost all the good results they have had, a youngster was involved.” 

Looking back at the match, Mngqithi was unhappy that they left Soweto with only four goals. 

“I have always enjoyed to have teams that score lots of goals, I think I have a lot of records even in amateur football where my top scorer was probably at 57 goals. I am that type of coach who want my team to score more goals. 

“The relentlessness that you are applauding at the moment, I am very unhappy with the number of goals that we scored because I think we could have scored a lot more. It is important to do it when you get that opportunity because Bayern Munich and Leverkusen does it. 

“I was very unhappy, we were not cutting edge, we were not playing for the goal all the time. There were moments where I felt we played for fun and that made me very unhappy.”