Mamelodi Sundowns players celebrate during their DStv Premiership 2022/23 match against TS Galaxy FC on the 24 January 2022 at Mbombela Stadium. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu, BackpagePix
Johannesburg – The fact that Mamelodi Sundowns have a 19-point advantage over nearest rivals Richards Bay in the Premiership suggests that there is a gulf in class between the Brazilians and the rest.
Rhulani Mokwena’s team are more or less assured of a sixth consecutive league title. Winning the championship has become so routine for them and their fans, that their season will now be deemed a success or failure depending on how they perform in the Caf Champions League.
The following are five reasons why Sundowns are better than the rest in South Africa:
Proper recruitment
Recruitment is a key part of getting a team to tick. Talented players alone do not always make a team perform as is often seen when top sides misfire at the highest level in any sport.
Sundowns’ recruitment strategy is simply better than the rest right now. Some will say their success is due to money and while this is true to an extent, they are not the only big spenders in the SA. Other clubs have signed players who have simply not fitted their team philosophy.
Excellent tactics
Say what you want about Mokwena, the fact of the matter is that he is one of the most thoroughly researched and academic students of the SA game.
Far too many coaches in SA are mentors, but lack an analytical ability and take an overly simplistic approach when it comes to coaching and this is a reason why many local clubs look to Europeans when making coaching appointments.
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There are not many coaches in SA football who can give as detailed, analytical coaching insight and football knowledge as Mokwena can and this approach undoubtedly benefits to Sundowns.
Some will say that Mokwena wins solely because of the players he works with but as can be seen in various sports, the best person often gets the best resources to work with. This is seen in England where Pep Guardiola currently manages Manchester City and where Manchester United were previously managed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Money
Again, this is not the sole reason behind Sundowns’ successes but it is a part of the reason and cannot be denied.
Clubs like Cape Town City, Sekhukhune United and AmaZulu can do better but they will not compete with Sundowns anytime soon as they simply do not have the same level of resources as the Brazilians.
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On the other hand, there is no excuse why Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are not closing the gap on Sundowns and performing better or challenging for silverware.
Sundowns make hard calls
At the end of the day, clubs have to sometimes make tough calls, which may involve the future in mind. Rather than show too attention to the past, which Chiefs have done but retaining faith in Itumeleng Khune who looks like he is past it, Sundowns make tough calls.
They did this in 2021 by releasing former club captain Hlompho Kekana who was still good enough to play at the time. This season, they also did it, firstly by demoting Denis Onyango to second-choice goalkeeper at the start of the campaign in favour of Ronwen Williams.
When Sundowns struggled earlier in the season, they also made a big call by demoting Manqoba Mngqithi from his position as co-head coach and promoting Mokwena as the sole head coach.
Proper continuity
As soon as Sundowns realise that a player may not fit in with the club’s philosophy despite boasting obvious talent, they offload them. This may hurt some fans in the moment, but proves to be healthy in the long-run.
We saw this this season as the club let go of striker Pavol Safranko, a fully capped Slovakia international who had the ability to be prolific in SA, but did not quite live up to expectations and compete with Peter Shalulile for goals last season.
On the other hand, Chiefs held onto quite a few players for too long over the years hoping that they would somehow one day perform. This influenced Chiefs’ major exodus at the start of the season.