Rulani shrugs off Downs' intensity loss claims

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena disagrees with those who think two goalless draws in their last two fixtures mean they are now not aggressive enough as they’ve already bagged the title.

Sundowns played another goalless draw against relegation-threatened Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday, on the back of the scoreless stalemate at home to Cape Town City five days earlier. The Tshwane giants, who sealed the earliest title triumph in terms of the remaining matches in the PSL history last week, face Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium tomorrow (7.30pm).

Sundowns won what’s their sixth title in a row with seven games to spare. Despite goalless draws in their last two outings, Mokwena disagrees with the notion that they have lost the aggression and high intensity in their play since they’ve already won the league.

“I don’t agree with that [Sundowns now lack aggression]. These games are very difficult. Difficult because in football you need a lot of conditions to have intensity... you need the opponent that’s there as an aggressor and today (Sunday) we played against an opponent [Swallows] that’s sitting and holding onto a point at home,” Mokwena said.

“You need a very good pitch [to have that aggression that Sundowns are known for], so that the ball moves a little bit faster and the pitch [at Dobsonville Stadium] is a little bit dryer and bumpy, so we were responsible for the tempo of the game and I think we did all that we could, we created so many chances and we won a lot of duels.”

Mokwena also maintained he’s not vexed by the last two results, highlighting the importance of these games to integrate players coming from injuries with the rest of the playing squad, especially with the CAF Champions League and the Nedbank Cup still on the horizon.

“No, no [there are no concerns at all]. The recovering of the players is so nice to see...[Bongani] Zungu, [Abubeker] Nasir, Gaston [Sirino] after such a long time [out, they are back] on the pitch...AB [Abdelmounaim Boutouil ], Thapelo [Morena] also. We have to play these games and try to make sure that the squad is close to each other,” Mokwena explained.