Mosimane looks beyond the final
SIGNING SPREE: COACH WILL STRENGTHEN SQUAD
Brazilians chasing first Nedbank Cup title in seven years.
Pitso Mosimane says he is going to add new faces to his already star-studded Mamelodi Sundowns team during the off-season. This comes after the Tshwane giants missed out on the Caf Champions League, Absa Premiership, Telkom Knockout and MTN8 titles during this campaign.
“We are going to have to strengthen the team, because I believe the team needs to be stronger,” declared Mosimane.
“There is no need to hold on to players whom you haven’t given a chance to, especially when they have been at the club for more than two years. When you check the statistics and see how many games they have played, you can’t be holding on – you need to give other guys a chance.”
Things didn’t go well as well as hoped for the Patrice Motsepe-owned team this season, especially as they surrendered the league title to Kaizer Chiefs, finishing as runners-up. The Brazilians did however, qualify for next year’s Caf Champions League and on Saturday will play Ajax Cape Town in the Nedbank Cup final. So Mosimane was focusing on the positives.
“We played in the Champions League this year, we played in the semifinal of the Telkom Knockout Cup this season. Last year we did not and we are going into the final of the Nedbank Cup. Those are the big improvements,” added Mosimane.
“But we lacked consistency, we didn’t score enough goals, like last season, although we attacked more this season. We were much more expansive.”
Sundowns capped off their league run with double Tshwane derby victories, starting off with a 2-1 win over SuperSport United and following that with a slender 1- 0 win over the University of Pretoria on Saturday in their last league match of the season.
On Saturday, Mosimane will lead the Brazilians into the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium against Ajax Cape Town as he looks to salvage some silverware from their campaign.
The last time Downs lifted the trophy was back in 2008, the same year Nedbank took over the sponsorship from Absa.
En route to the final this year, Downs had to fend off some of their toughest competitors, including Platinum Stars and Mpumalanga Black Aces.
“We missed the boat to move up in the league,” said Mosimane, “but we improved by reaching the final of the Nedbank Cup”.
Urban Warriors coach Roger de Sa will not be on the bench for his club on Saturday after being red-carded in their 2-2 draw against Orlando Pirates at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday for allegedly kicking the ball onto the pitch at the end of a long tirade of abuse at match officials.
The suspension means he will miss the cup final in Port Elizabeth and the first match of next season.
Mosimane believes this will have no impact on Saturday’s showdown.
“The coach being sent off has nothing to do with the impact on the game,” said Mosimane. “Stuart Baxter was out for two games, but Chiefs won both games.
“The team is there, the system is there and they know what to do.
“And now lately people are calling coaches to talk in corridors while the match is on. They speak, they give instructions and phones are there.
“But Ajax have a very good team, young, energetic and we know they are in it to win it, like we are.
“We have a decent team to play football and we play to win.”