Mngqithi bemoans ‘difficult’ Sundowns schedule

It has not taken Manqoba Mngqithi long to start echoing the whining of his predecessor, Pitso Mosimane, who did not miss an opportunity to rue a hectic schedule when he was at the helm of Mamelodi Sundowns.

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In the past couple of weeks, Masandawana have been criss-crossing through the continent in the Caf Champions League and have had to balance that with an intense domestic schedule.

They have done supremely well, racking up another win at the weekend, albeit that they needed a stoppage time strike from Peter Shalulile to take down Stellenbosch FC 2-1, and move four points clear at the top of the DStv Premiership.

But these games, it seems, are becoming too much for Mngqithi and his co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena, as well as senior coach Steve Komphela.

“It is very difficult for us. When you look at our schedule and you look at the games that we are playing back-to-back, it’s very tough,” said Mngqithi.

“But one should give credit to our conditioning team … to our medical department, those guys are doing a lot of work and they are helping in that space because our recovery processes always demand a lot and there is always so much to do and those guys are on top of their game.

“They play a very big role in trying to make sure that the team is fresh. We can always try to make sure that players are fresh by taking them out early in the game, but sometimes it is difficult (to take people out),” he added.

Nonetheless, Mngqithi and co will have an opportunity to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to 25 games on Tuesday when they welcome TP Mazembe for a Caf Champions League Group B tie in Pretoria.

The Bafana Ba Style mentor, meanwhile, also praised the work that national Under-23 head coach David Notoane, who is also on the coaching staff at Sundowns, does with the rest of the squad while Sundowns travel for continental duty.

“We are fortunate because we have a big technical team that stays with the players left behind when we play outside the country in the Champions League. Every time we travel, the team remains with people who are competent enough to give their best and we give a lot of credit to those people. They work really hard because the players who stay behind are never out of shape, and coach Notoane is one of those people.”

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