Sundowns ‘a special team’
ERTUGRAL: AJAX COACH KNOWS THEIR TASK AGAINST MOSIMANE’S MEN WILL BE A DIFFICULT ONE
Urban Warriors mentor still waiting for his work permit.
Ajax Cape Town head coach Muhsin Ertugral is wary of a wounded Mamelodi Sundowns as the Urban Warriors host Masandawana this evening in the Absa Premiership.
Pitso Mosimane’s side are on top of the table but have lost their last two league games, a 1-0 defeat at home to Cape Town City before Christmas followed by a 3-2 loss at Polokwane City on Saturday.
“Sundowns are a team that can’t be good yesterday and bad today. It is a special team and they have brilliant players who are highly tactical and they understand each other. They have been ruling South African football for a while now,” said Ertugral yesterday, however.
Ajax, in any case, have their own problems, with the Urban Warriors in serious relegation trouble.
Ertugral took over from Stanley Menzo on December 21, but he had to watch his first game from the stands as Ajax lost 2-1 at home to Maritzburg United on Friday. Ertugral, along with Ajax’s new Zimbabwean striker Tendai Ndoro, had yet to receive a work permit and yesterday it was still unclear whether either would be ready in time for the Sundowns game.
The Ajax coach did not want to dwell too much on the United loss.
“I don’t believe that I have to look in the past because I can’t change it. I always look forward to the future,” he told Phakaaathi.
Ajax are banking on Ertugral’s experience to clean up the mess left behind by Stanley Menzo as they sit 15th in the table – this is the fourth spell in charge of the Urban Warriors for a man who has also coached Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, among other South African clubs.
“At the moment we need to get back on our feet and it is not that easy but we also have the quality. We are getting better and better every day. In the last game we played, I saw the brand of football that I want in the last 20 minutes,” added Ertugral.
“We have a hectic schedule though, we have three games away in a row in February and that is a bit interesting but in the end it is not for me to complain about it. I came here knowing what is expected of me.”