The tactician has told his squad what they must do to earn a place in the starting XI
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi is setting tough conditions for his players if they want to be selected regularly into the starting XI.
Mngqithi has seen a change in fortunes for his side, who have won their last three games, scoring 10 goals without conceding, but the tactician says they have not reached the levels he wants them to hit.
The Sundowns coach wants his players to quickly buy into his methods, revealing that those who quickly implement what he is looking for are the ones that will get selected regularly.
“I am not sure everybody has bought into it [playing style] but whoever has bought into it is going with it,” said Mngqithi.
What must Sundowns players do to get selected?
“We are happy with those that can see the light. If players start to confess on the side and say that; ‘I think this season we are going to score a lot of goals,’ you must get excited because they must buy in it first and then you must try to drive towards the direction.
“Now, the atmosphere, attitude and mentality towards what we are trying to achieve is very clear that every player understands what we are trying to do but in terms of the system, we are not yet at the level where I want us to be.
“We are still playing in moments we are not consistent in our football actions and our positional play sometimes is still questionable but we are improving in every match that we are playing and we are hopeful that the competition we are trying to bring within the group is going to fast track the desire to play the way we want to play
“At the end, it is going to go down to who does exactly what we are looking for so that he is always in the starting XI.”
Mngqithi has been ruthless with his squad this season
Mngqithi has shown a ruthless side to his management after he dropped key players Khuliso Mudau and Teboho Mokoena in recent matches, including the league opener against SuperSport United last week, and also made many changes in their CAF Champions League second leg match against Mbabane Swallows at the weekend.
The tactician feels offering no guarantees for a place in the starting XI will get the best out of his squad as they seek to challenge domestically and on the continent.
Sundowns host Marumo Gallants in their second league match on Tuesday.
