There is no title that has been won in January – Coach Rulani Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns are preparing to go to battle with SuperSport United in the Tshwane Derby at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Monday evening, with the defending Champions looking to maintain their 10 league match winning streak. Matsatsantsa are the last team that Masandawana lost to in the domestic league despite Downs supremacy in their previous seven games against United, recording four wins, two draws and one loss.

“Interestingly enough, Supersport United already in the profile you see that they’ve got the highest number of throwing shots in the league with 6. They’ve got the highest number of crosses or box crosses in the league with 186, but funny is that the distribution from the goalkeeper is not the longest in the league and the distribution from center backs is not the longest in terms of the length.” Masandawana’s Head Coach Rulani Mokwena told the media at a press briefing.

He continued to give a breakdown of SuperSport’s method of playing, he said: [It] also gives you the element of saying that there are moments where they will play from the back and so a very complex team with strengths that go maybe a little bit in contradiction to the profile at times. Also one of the biggest threats is that they’ve got an experienced coach who knows how to win. We expect a very, very difficult game.”

Alongside Coach Rulani was former United’s midfield maestro Teboho Mokoena who recently scooped his first man of the match with Bafana Ba Style in the current season. Mokoena formed part of the team that collected maximum points on Tuesday night when they welcomed Chippa United to the Capital City, Mokoena briefly detailed the changes that took place to see him adapt to the style of play at Chloorkop.

“For me last season I was struggling with the intensity when I got here. In the pre-season I told myself that I need to work on it and I did a lot of work on my endurance and stamina and I came back in a better shape. I think I am enjoying myself right now as a six because I think the competition that we have in the team is what’s making me a better player. I think overall the competition is what’s making Mamelodi Sundowns a good team.”

“I was not really shocked when I moved because I think I have worked very hard to be where I am right now, but the quality here is very high, like I said the competition is what makes Mamelodi Sundowns a competitive team, even with the Coach here I have learnt a lot. I think as players of Mamelodi Sundowns we can say that Coach Rulani is our inspiration because the work that he puts in is out of this world. I don’t think anyone here at Mamelodi Sundowns works the way he does.”

The Brazilians now have 40 points at the top of the log, opening up a major gap of 13 points at the top-of-the-table. Sundowns head into the Tshwane Derby on the back of victory against the Chili Boys, meanwhile United come into this on the back of a 2-1 defeat away to the Golden Arrows last weekend. Coach Rulani addressed the mentality of taking each game at a time and analyzed how the team previously lost to their crosstown rivals.

“There is no title that has been won in January and this is what our mentality is and this is what we are honestly talking about, that it takes more than 40 points to win a title.”

“In retrospect, having watched the game [and] remembering my talk at half time we were not so good. In the first half we were very sloppy with our passes, we had the mentality of having beaten them already in the MTN8 and the mentality was not right but we have come a very long way since that match.”

Mamelodi Sundowns clash with SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership on Monday, 16 January at Loftus Versfeld. Kick off is at 18H00, live on SuperSport.