Sundowns are going to take it ‘nice and easy’ against Chiefs

PITSO MOSIMANE, whose Mamelodi Sundowns team has not beaten Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium in three seasons, has claimed he will deploy a conservative approach when the two teams meet at the venue on Saturday.

It could very well have been mind games from the former Bafana Bafana coach, but he said it with such seriousness that it probably shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Their poor away record against Chiefs suggests that the Glamour Boys have often upped their game against the Brazilians in their own backyard. Amakhosi have already beaten Sundowns this season with a 2-1 victory at Loftus in October.

“We are playing away, in a big game, we need to be smart,” said Mosimane. “I wish I could play this game with a fully-fit team and compete fairly. But I can’t complain because the team that played against Chiefs when we lost, played very well. We need to be smart at FNB and not be all over the place.”

Sundowns currently lead the PSL title race and enjoy a five-point advantage over third-placed Chiefs, who are desperate to reduce the gap to just two and prove that they are genuine contenders. Earlier this week, Amakhosi coach Steve Komphela stopped short of labelling Saturday’s league encounter a potential title decider, choosing to call it a “direct confrontation” between championship rivals.

“We don’t want to play into their hands,” Mosimane added. “Somebody must attack, but we are going to take it nice and easy. We will be very conservative, maybe we play five at the back like they have been doing when they come here (Loftus). This is a response to what the log table says. We don’t want to lose at FNB. We might not win, but we are not losing.”

Asked whether he would “unleash” new striker Jeremy Brockie against Chiefs, the Sundowns coach suggested his latest recruit would not be suited to the kind of style he is contemplating for Saturday.

Brockie made his debut at the weekend in a 3-0 win against Platinum Stars.

“He is good in front of goal. He is not a transitional player. It will be a different game there. I also want to use speed and play counter-attack,” Mosimane said. “We will see how the game goes. They always have three centre-backs and it works for them. They do well with that, look where they are on the table (Chiefs have the second-best defensive record in the league). It’s nice like that, but I can say we score more (Sundowns are by far the best attackers in the league), I want goals.”

Pressed on whether he was honestly considering counter-attacking football on Saturday, Mosimane joked that there was a first time for everything.

“I don’t have mind games. I respect Steve. We have a team that can be conservative and we have one that can be aggressive. We will see,” Mosimane explained.