Downs prove just how professional they are

Ijust love the way Mamelodi Sundowns have been playing in the past couple of weeks, most notably the manner in which they played against Bidvest Wits.

The team once again displayed their quality and how they have grown as a team. One thing that defeats a lot of our players in the Premier Soccer League is that they fail to live a professional life.

Most players believe that once they are signed by a professional team, they think they are professionals, but that is not the case.

Take a look at Sundowns play- ers – you can see that they lead professional lives outside of football. I say this because when you look at their physical conditioning, if you did not know, you would assume they do not train, but they train and play on a weekly basis.

You will not see them suffering from fatigue. Even their injuries are not such that would take out a player for an entire season. When you look at their physical shape, it is impressive, and that should be attributed to their physical trainers and their technical team.

It goes down to knowing and understanding the players and considering individuals’ physical needs. They do not have general physical training sessions where you know very well that Helman is lean, but you give him the same training methods for a bulky player.

I think a lot of teams in the PSL need to take a leaf from this and use the same strategies, because sometimes you see other players looking very tired and end up suffering from fatigue. And it all boils down to well-worked-out physical training.

We are now starting to see the Brazilians reaping the benefits of their Caf Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup experiences. They are playing a lot of games and yet they continue to go on, they are not slowing down.

I would love to see Pitso Mosimane conducting coaching seminars all around the country so that he may share the ideas on how he manages to keep his side consistent for a long time.

I also want to talk about Platinum Stars after they won their first match in six games. It is a good sight to see them winning and beginning their battle to avoid relegation.

The players, however, need to forget about the history of the club, they have to forget that they once finished second in the table, because that will only distract them.

That is history, now they have to make sure they get themselves out of the red zone. Their biggest challenge will come if they are fortunate enough to advance to the group stages of the Caf Confederation Cup.

Then it will be a test for the

management as they will have to decide on whether to go all out in the Confed Cup, and if they choose to do so, they will be running the risk of losing their top-flight status.

Once that happens, difficulties will approach them from all fronts, the most telling one being the financial battle they will encounter. It is an advantage that they have a good head in coach Calvin Johnson, and he will make sure everybody works hard.

The relegation battle is far from over. The likes of Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town may still be dragged down if they don’t turn around their season. It will be interesting to see how it will all unfold at the end of the season. A lot is expected from the new Pirates coach, especially with the Soweto derby coming up this weekend.