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Mosimane Likens Esteghlal Project To Manchester United

  • January 21, 2025
  • 3 min read
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Mosimane Likens Esteghlal Project To Manchester United

South African coach Pitso Mosimane has likened his project at Esteghlal FC to English Premier League outfit Manchester United’s struggles after his side suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Shams Azar on Monday.

The result saw Esteghlal’s eight-game [W2 D6] unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end.

The Tehran-based team is flirting with danger as they dropped down to 11th place in the 16-team championship with 18 points collected, three above the drop zone.

Following a below-par display that handed Shams Azar their first-ever victory over the Capital Blues, the club’s supporters whistled against their players and Mosimane says his charges deserve the stick, including himself.

“Supporters are right because we are not winning, I expect them to chant against me as well. Is this a performance that we should be angry that supporters are chanting against us? No, they are right, even if they chant against me. They deserve a win, and we are not giving them the win,” he said.

“The team is in a worse situation than I found it in. If I have to play two foreigners out of six. I had [Raphael] Silva and [Masoud] Juma, where is [Gael] Kakuta? Where is [Gustavo] Blanco? Where is [Ibrahim] Didier? It’s a situation where our team always has lots of players that are out.

“Yes, my team is not playing well, I can’t hide it, I’m even struggling to make substitutes. I delay and I look at my bench all the time, who can I bring on? I was looking at my bench and I said, ‘My goodness is this what I have?”.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly mentor reiterated the importance of adding reinforcements to the squad, stating that he’s in a precarious situation like Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.

“So, we are at this point with few days left before the transfer window closes. if you look at the team, who do I have? So, I’m in that situation, it’s like a Manchester United story – very difficult to fix but we do try, but it’s the way it is,” Mosimane added.

“Where is the attack? I see young boys aged 17 and 18. Where are the players? I play with what I have, I didn’t even make substitutes, and I had five players I could have substituted [against Shams Azar], you think I don’t want to make substitutes to make the team better?

“I need players, we need to have players. Esteghlal must accept it is where it is and figure out what can be done to change the situation because we are a big club. So, this is my position as a coach, and I have to continue with my team and wait for players, otherwise, we are where we are and it’s not nice.”

Esteghlal will take on Malavan in an away encounter in their next Persian Gulf Pro League outing on Saturday. The last time the two-time AFC Champions League Elite winners lost to their upcoming opponents was back in February 2014.

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Hlayisani Magoro

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