Neo Maema is targeting a sharp start to the new season, following what he describes as a pre-season which they set the bar very high. With just a few days before the Premier Soccer League (PSL) campaign kicks off for the Brazilians through the MTN8, Maema stated his personal and team’s objectives for the 2024/25 campaign.
“The commencement of the new season brings new objectives. As an individual, I’m trying to improve and better myself and performances. I would like to have more assists and goals this season. These are the things that linger in my mind and I have to work towards that,” he explained.
“As a team, I would like us to win more trophies, considering the number of competitions we will be playing in this season. We have the squad to compete, so I’m hopeful that we can do better than we did last season. We had a good pre-season and we set the bar high. Heading to the new season, we will need to maintain the standard of the Club and do our level best to ensure that we are ready for the season. Once the competitions kick off, we’ll just have to show up,” he continued.
This season, Masandwana will be competing in seven different competitions and will be looking to possibly lift all the silverware on offer. With the squad having been consolidated with a few signings to amplify their chances of winning as many trophies as possible, the midfield maestro said this season, the mission is to reinforce the winning mentality and culture of the Club.
“We are a big Club and we also have a lot of big players, including the ones that are coming in. We need to reinforce the culture of the team and teach the new players as soon as possible so they can know and understand what is expected of us this coming season. The number of competitions we are competing in this season also mean there’ll be a lot of travelling. So, mentally we will have to prepare ourselves for that, while also preparing to win every game,” Maema declared.
The 2024/25 campaign for Masandawana kicks off on Sunday afternoon when they host Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarterfinals at Lucas Moripe Stadium. Kick-off has been scheduled for 15H00.
The line up was excellent except for two players which is our centre backs , Revaldo and Musa, these guys lack speed and this compromises the whole team.We were almost caught 3 times on counter attack because of their lack of speed. Other teams will destroy us if we continue to play them. Kekana and Mvala are far much more better than the two even though they also don’t have kuch speed.Mvala was injured, and another obtion ,Lunga was also injured, but still we had kekana, and we can still try Keegan, Oubaas or any other boy that has height and speed to play as centre back. We are jot going to win champions league if we continue to play players that cannot run, let us forget because at that level they punish you when they see your weaknesses.
On tge overall the team played well and created many opportunities however the could not convert them. Maseko must not be selfish if he wants to feature more on the line up, we want the team to win ,not individuals.He was supposed to pass a ball to Costa ,he did not and that would have been a goal.I liked that starting line up ,and were combining well ,creating scoring chances, however Revaldo and Lebusa should not have started at all. Their time at the back as centre backs is over , if they have to play it has to be in midfield or left back for Lebusa, but again who are you gonna take out for them?.
We can even try pair Malibongwe Khoza and Keegan at the back if Kekana and Mvala are not available. Let us not risk with players who cannot run.