No sitting back - Pitso
ATTITUDE: NOTHING LESS THAN ATTACKING MINDSET AGAINST WYDAD
Mamelodi Sundowns can afford the luxury of a draw against Wydad Casablanca this afternoon as one point will be enough to see them finishing at the top of their Caf Champions League group, but Downs coach Pitso Mosimane says sitting back is not an option.
This is not because of Mosimane’s will to win every game, but more about being unfamiliar with defensive tactics and his side is instead set to launch attack after attack at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
“Even when we were in Morocco, we pressed the goalkeeper from the top. Maybe the problem is with me, I don’t know how to train the team the whole week behind the centre line – I really don’t know how to.
“What is going to happen when you need to score because you have been training to sit back? I have never applied that tactic and the best time I could have applied that tactic is when we played in the Fifa Club World Cup in 2016, which we did not.
“We also played Barcelona against Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez, the full line-up of Barca and we did not sit back, so why should we sit back against Wydad? We don’t sit back for any team because we believe we have to attack.
“Of course we can’t be reckless and go all over the place,” said Mosimane,
whose side are looking to sew up top spot in Group C with Wydad hot on their heels.
“We need the structure and organisation, we can’t be going in like we are playing a small team. Wydad is a big team, they have won the Champions League and last year they were in the final, they also eliminated us last year so we respect them,” Mosimane continued.
“We believe that if we attack and score there are going to be more problems (for them) and they will be more desperate but we should also not be desperate. We should score because the opportunity is there, we should be smart and know how to play the Champions League.”