Khama’s knowledge a threat for Downs
Mosimane wants the big fish, 'not sardines'
Khama Billiat spent six highly successful seasons at Chloorkop where he won the Caf Champions League‚ Super Cup and league soccer titles‚ and Pitso Mosimane says the Zimbabwean forward knows Sundowns’ secrets.
“The player who poses a serious threat to us is Khama‚” Mosimane said as the Brazilians prepared to welcome Amakhosi in what promises to be a thrilling match in Pretoria.
“He knows our secrets and we have created a monster in him. We taught him all the runs.
“This situation reminds me of when Pep Guardiola took Bayern Munich to play against FC Barcelona in the Champions League after his sabbatical.
“They gave him six goals at the Camp Nou and the menace was Lionel Messi‚ the guy he worked with all the time.”
Mosimane‚ who was rumoured to be interested in bringing Billiat back to Sundowns in the off-season‚ said the Brazilians played a large role improving the quality of the talented Zimbabwean international.
“Besides what we gave him here at Sundowns‚ Khama is a talented football player,” Downs’ coach said. “You can’t manage him but we have to do what we have to do to minimise his threats because you can’t stop him.
“He poses a big threat to us — more than anybody to be honest‚ because he is scoring lots of goals and that’s why we like him.”
Asked if he would do a man-marking job on Billiat‚ Mosimane said Sundowns would stick to their tried and tested formula.
“I have not done that before because if you do man-marking‚ it means you follow me wherever I go and you only react after I have reacted. If I stop you stop‚ you also stop and you will get tired from doing that.”
The threat from current log-leaders Chiefs will not be limited only to Billiat as coach Ernst Middendorp has other dangerous attacking players such as Leonardo Castro‚ Dumisani Zuma‚ Bernard Parker‚ Samir Nurkovic and Kearyn Baccus.
Victory for Sundowns will see them move to the top of the log standings with a onepoint lead and the possibility of winning the second Q-Innovation.
“It is sardines. Our focus is the big fish‚” Mosimane said about the PSL’s Q-Innovation prize to the quarterly league leaders.
“We didn’t get the sardines last season but caught the big fish. Some of the people who got the sardines did not last.”
This situation reminds me of when Pep Guardiola took Bayern Munich to play against FC Barcelona in the Champions League after his sabbatical