Cricket Rugby Soccer Sport news so fresh, its live!

February 6, 2025
Search
Football SA Stars Abroad South Africa

Mosimane Bemoans Esteghlal Squad Strength Despite Win 

  • November 10, 2024
  • 4 min read
  • 177 Views
Mosimane Bemoans Esteghlal Squad Strength Despite Win 

Pitso Mosimane has bemoaned the quality and depth of Esteghlal’s squad despite securing his first win in charge of the club following a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Mes Rafsanjan at Shahre Qods Stadium on Saturday. 

The South African’s tenure got off to a rocky start with a 3-1 loss to Kheybar, followed by a 2-0 setback to title-chasing Tractor before succumbing to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Neymar’s Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League. 

Mosimane’s charges have snapped a five-game losing streak in all competitions and the result saw them register their third league win of the season and a first clean sheet, which propelled them to 10th place with 11 points – four above the relegation zone, but the coach remains dissatisfied with his squad. 

“What can I say? Esteghlal won a match, it’s unbelievable. We won the match when we had a thin squad out of all the times I’ve been here, we won the match where we had the weakest team on the pitch, ” a frustrated Mosimane told the media in his post-match conference. 

“We lost [Abolfazl] Jalali in the morning, and I was asking myself how many more players are we going to lose, but yeah, God is there for us. We didn’t play very well but we won the match, we defended for our lives, and that’s what we needed, we needed just a win. 

“We had to go to the youth team to bring young players to come play [this match], but it’s okay we won the match, that’s what matters the most. We hope we can get two or more players [back] during the FIFA break.” 

The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly mentor stressed the importance of building a squad that can compete at the highest level, reiterating the weakness of the team he had at his disposal as he urged the club’s hierarchy to invest in the development structures as well. 

“Of course, we need to strengthen the team. I think the goalkeeper we are okay, and we hope we get the other players back [from injury], and inshallah the team [board] supports, we bring good players, we need players, ” Mosimane lamented. 

“We need to score, we need midfielders to give you confidence and you need the defenders to keep clean sheets, we will see. If I have a right back scoring for me then you can see I need people to score upfront – we don’t look like a team that can score easily. 

“This match was the weakest team we had since I arrived, I mean the poor boy [Abolfazl Zamani] I don’t know how old he is, I think he’s only 18, he was cramping at halftime because the load is too heavy for him, [but] it’s a chance for Abolfazl to play, he played well against Malcolm from Al-Hilal. 

“So, it’s a chance for him since he’s been playing at right back. We are not happy with injuries, but it gives opportunities for the young players to take the chance. When we played Al-Hilal, the left back had stomach problems and we had to play Abolfazl [Zamani] on the left and he’s not even a right back and he played well, and now he scored. 

“Is our youth team strong enough to give us ready players? If you look at Barcelona all the young players are there playing with few seniors, so Esteghlal must also look at it that way, it’s a big team. We need to make sure that our youth teams are very good and strong, ” he concluded.

About Author

Hlayisani Magoro

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *