Sundowns coach Mngqithi hits back at critics after Chiefs win

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has again hit back at his critics following the 2-1 over Kaizer Chiefs last Saturday.

Mngqithi didn’t take kindly to suggestions that he veered away from what his predecessor Rulani Mokwena was doing.

Before the season started, the outspoken coach made it clear that he would make certain adjustments to their game model. As expected, the 53-year-old came under the hammer when his tenure got off to a disappointing start and Sundowns crashed out of the MTN8 competition.

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The Brazilians have turned the corner following a perfect start to their Betway Premiership title defence with three straight wins against SuperSport United, Marumo Gallants and Chiefs. They have also reached the group stages of the Caf Champions League after getting past Eswatini champions Mbabane Swallows. 

“I think it was ignorance from the beginning to think that we’ve changed anything because I think we added but we didn’t change anything. Sometimes in a society where people jump to conclusions before they even ask, you end up having situations where people think there’s something that has happened but yet there’s nothing,” Mngqithi said. 

“The truth was that we wanted to improve the speed of play because we were a team that was not strong on transitions, we were a team that was not strong on break attacks, we were a team that didn’t have maximum width. We had to improve on those aspects because they are fundamentally important to the success of any football club. 

“Our society has a lot of people that jump to conclusions and they don’t bother to ask but they have answers and they immediately use their pen and paper to write whatever they like so don’t even think I’m vindicated because I’ve never changed anything, I’ve just added.”

Despite Sundowns only bagging the domestic league title and African Football League title last season, Mngqithi gave credit to Mokwena and the strides the team made under him. Masandawana also came up short in the Champions League and three local cup competitions. 

“I’ve been in this institution for so many years and I know what has gone right and what has gone wrong and I know areas that need to be improved,” said Mngqithi who has already promised to deliver the elusive second champions league trophy.

ALSO READ: Sundowns bounce back to edge out Chiefs in Premiership thriller

“And I must also commend the good work that my predecessor did because there was a lot of work that Rulani did which is good and it’s helping the same club now. If I was stupid and ignorant or had low self-esteem, then I would go the direction of wanting to change and bring my own things but I never had that in mind and it was baffling to hear people talking the way they did.”