Mokwena demands more from Sundowns star

When Rivaldo Coetzee was reinvented as a defensive midfielder a few seasons ago at Mamelodi Sundowns, it raised many eyebrows as to why then coach Pitso Mosimane and his technical team saw the need to convert an excellent central defender.

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The same question arose when Teboho “Tebza” Mokoena was deployed in a deeper role in the middle of the park as opposed to his accustomed attacking midfielder role where he starred for his former club SuperSport United and in the national team.

His coach, Rulani Mokwena has explained the rationale behind dropping Mokoena deeper at the heart of midfield. Perhaps the prolonged absence of Coetzee puts a spanner in the works for Downs’ brains trust, as they had become accustomed to playing with a guard in front of the back-four.

— Sundowns’ midfield template —

Mokwena described striker Peter Shalulile as the template of what a Sundowns player should be. When you watch the Namibian playing, his body language speaks of hunger and desire, and hard work is his second name. This, for Mokwena, should be second nature to everyone at Chloorkop.

“We have some of the best football players in this country and on the continent. This season in this country there are very few who are at his level, even on the continent

“There is a certain profile of a midfielder and at the beginning of the season we moved ‘Tebza’ to play position No.6 and people were questioning the move. We had very valid reasons why we needed that type of profile of a No.6 in relation to the type of profile of the No.8s that we have,” said Mokwena.

“We have to strike a balance in the midfield profile and we would love to have a No.6 who plays like Musa Nyatama because we play in a specific way for specific demands.”

— Pressure to perform —

At a team like Masandawana, as you would expect, there is a pressure to display match-winning performances all the time, given the demanding nature of Mokwena and his colleagues.

“He has incredible experience, he has played games of consequences even at international level. The demand for a player with the quality and competitive experience that he has is that he has to do it for 30 plus games. 10 good games are not enough. The best players in the world have one thing in common, and that is consistency regardless of how well you have been yesterday, you have to be better tomorrow,” said Mokwena.

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He adds: “When you happen to be a good human being like Tebza is, and many of them are, it is easy to coach you. Tebza is an incredible athlete and there was a lot of work done in his development phase, compliments have to go to all the coaches who worked with him.”