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Maema: We Can’t Compare Mngqithi And Mokwena 

  • October 9, 2024
  • 3 min read
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Maema: We Can’t Compare Mngqithi And Mokwena 

Mamelodi Sundowns winger Neo Maema says coach Manqoba Mngqithi can’t be compared to his predecessor Rulani Mokwena, who left the club and found a new home at Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca. 

Mokwena,37, left the reigning South African champions at the end of last season following an alleged rift with sporting director Flemming Berg, after leading the club to their seventh consecutive league title in a record-breaking points overhaul season. 

In a bid to do damage control and usher into a new era, the Sundowns hierarchy installed Mngqithi, who has been at the club since the 2013/14 season as the new head coach with Steve Komphela and Romain Folz amongst the new-look technical team. 

Now, Maema has refused to be drawn into comparing the two tacticians, stating that the two coaches are incomparable as they have been working together in the previous campaign and both boast different styles of play. 

“I wouldn’t want to compare coach Rulani and coach Manqoba because they were working together last season, ” Maema said. 

“I think the coach [Mngqithi] has actually mentioned numerous times when the media asked him how we are playing and he said we are playing a bit quicker. 

“That’s what you see with the profile of players that we get – we have Tashreeq [Matthews], [Iqraam] Rayners, they are quicker when it goes to the final third, so I don’t think I’m in any position to say my feelings about it, I can only support the current technical team.” 

Maema, who turns 29 in December, remains eager to fight for his place under the former Golden Arrows mentor and insists he will work hard to fit into the coach’s philosophy and style of play as he works on returning to full fitness. 

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong in making sure that I meet the demands of the coach, it’s just that I haven’t started properly, ” he said. 

“You have to tweak a few things if you are a football player. You would want to play as many positions as possible. 

“The season hasn’t started for me personally, I got a lot of injuries at the start of the season and it’s normal for a player to get injured because of not getting game time or expectations from yourself from last season. 

He added: “Obviously this season I started on the backfoot, but the season just started so I can’t get ahead of myself now.” 

Sundowns will be back in action when they host Golden Arrows in the Carling Knockout Cup round of 16 in two weeks’ time.

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Hlayisani Magoro

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