Planning ahead will be key for Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns reigned supreme last season, romping home to capture their seventh PSL championship.

For Mamelodi Sundowns to retain their title in the season ahead, they have to think ahead.

Downs reigned supreme last season, romping home to capture their seventh PSL championship.

Captain Thabo Nthethe reckons many a team will be gunning for the Brazilians and he feels staying ahead in terms of strategy and planning is key to successfully defending their title.

“The past five years, the way I have seen how competitive our league is, the standard goes up and the competition gets tougher,” said Nthethe.

“I am quite sure that teams now know how Sundowns play, and they will make sure they monitor us in order to try and stop us from winning again.

“The league is getting tougher - and there's nothing wrong with that because we are playing competitive sport. But it's becoming more difficult for us to win so that's why we have to think ahead.”

Sundowns’ main competitors, Kaizer Chiefs, Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates, have reinforced their teams in a quest to challenge for the league title and Nthethe is expecting them to give Sundowns a run for their money.

“I am sure they won’t make things any easier for us. They are aware of how we play because if you compete with someone you have to study them. That’s why they have signed the players that they have. They want to make sure their teams are strong.

“We know that but at Downs we think ahead. The coaches that we have make sure that we are ahead. It becomes easier ahead of the season,” said the former Bloemfontein Celtic skipper.

Sundowns have also acquired the services of Brazilian defender Ricardo Nascimento, midfielder Lucky Mohumi and highly rated play-maker Sibusiso Vilakazi, and the latter is expected to add to an already impressive attack.

Nthethe is adamant the signings will help lift Sundowns to another dimension. “We all know Vila is a good player, who can make sure the team wins games. Mohumi, we have played against him. He is one of the good players. Ricardo, I haven’t seen him play but the coach says he has been monitoring him for a year so we believe in the coach and the team that he has. We have quality and we believe the coach has done a very good job.

“Since I arrived at Sundowns, I've seen how they make things easier for new players to quickly adapt. The guys make sure you feel comfortable so as a new guy you won't have pressure.”

Since the season ended, Sundowns players have not had as much rest as their PSL counterparts.

While other players were on holiday, the Sundowns players were grinding it out in the CAF Champions League, where they have managed to qualify for the semi-finals.

A punishing schedule awaits Downs in the next two months and it remains to be seen if the players succumb to fatigue.

But Nthethe is confident that he and his teammates won't have any problems. “The guys are okay. Our physical trainer KB (Kabelo Rangoaga) has been managing issues of fatigue very well.

“Every time that we play, after the games we get ample time to rest. After Zamalek we got eight days’ rest and when we go to another game, we go there feeling fresh again.

“So I don’t see us battling with fatigue,” insisted the centre-back. - The Star