CAF’s new calendar could be a problem for coach Pitso’s plans
JOHANNEBURG: Pitso Mosimane finds himself in a Catch-22 in how he assembles Mamelodi Sundowns’ squad for what will be a gruelling campaign with next season’s Caf Champions League reduced to six months.
The congestion is due to the CAF’s decision to change the calendar from February – November to August – May. Next season’s Champions League preliminary rounds will start in November, immediately after the end of this current campaign, and are scheduled to finish in May – just before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sundowns are currently fighting to reach the quarterfinals of the 2018 Champions League, and will then start their Premiership defence next month and later in the year take part in the continent’s premier club competition for a fifth season in a row. Mosimane will need a big squad to compete on all fronts – but he doesn’t like having a big squad.
“We have to prepare the overall team because we are in the Champions League which has 14 games up until the final,” Mosimane said. “In December we start another 14 games. That’s a lot of travelling. And then we’ve got the MTN8, Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup, on top of 30 games in the league.
“So you won’t manage if you don’t have numbers. I don’t like to have so many players but players are not supermen so you have to have the numbers if you want to give your best. You know players are not happy when they aren’t playing and it becomes a problem. The best thing is to play them all and rotate them.”
Mosimane is not a fan of rotation, and prefers to have a settled starting XI. He will do a lot of things he doesn’t like doing this season as he intends to sign three more players, a left-footed centreback, another leftback and an attacker – who may or may not be Maritzburg United’s Lebogang Maboe.
“There’s a 23-year-old that I think should come here. He can score goals. I won’t say his name because I’ll be in trouble. He wants to come here,” Mosimane said.
The Brazilians’ came up against Maritzburg yesterday in a friendly to prepare for their Champions League clash with AS Togo-Port on Friday. The players who featured in Togo played in that match while those who beat Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday were rested. Sundowns languish at the bottom of Group C in the Champions League, three points behind leaders Wydad Casablanca.
“The only thing that we need to do is beat the people who are (just) in front of us, which is Horoya and TogoPort, don’t focus on Wydad,” Mosimane said.
“If you can do that, then you are second. Wydad has to play Horoya in Casablanca (on Saturday). I want Wydad to win. It’s good that they drew because the difference between us and them is three points.
“But I would like them to go through, stop Horoya and then we can beat Horoya and TogoPort to go through. That’s it.
“It’s how you finish, not how you start. If you don’t win your home games, then you might as well forget it.”