Manqoba Mngqithi sends strong message to his players and doubters amid rotation criticism - 'Nobody is guaranteed a place at Mamelodi Sundowns'

Mamelodi Sundowns avenged their initial 1-0 loss against Polokwane City in the Premier Soccer League with a 2-0 win against the same opponent on Wednesday night.

Brazilian striker Arthur Sales provided two assists from which 18-year-old Kutlwano Letlhaku capitalised to reduce the gap between them and Orlando Pirates to just three points.

"Players will be tired at the wrong time. Remember we're only just going to start the group stages of the [Caf] Champions League, which means we've got six matches there and the quarter-final, possibly the semi-final and the final," Mngqithi said on SuperSport TV.

"And there's still the [FIFA] Club World Cup after that, so it's very important that each and every player is part of this process and when they give me trust and hope that whenever they are given a chance they are going to deliver, that's very impressive.

"I must also thank my fellow technical team in that regard because I think if I was working with people who are cowards, maybe they would have said 'No, no coach let's go back'. Nobody is guaranteed a place at Sundowns."

Coach Manqoba Mngqithi made nine changes from the team that beat Kaizer Chiefs 4-0 in the Carling Knockout quarter-final over the weekend. Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams and striker Peter Shalulile were the only players retained.

"I think we started the game well, we wanted better mobility, better speed of play. That is what we got in the early stages of the game, to try and see if we couldn't create early chances but as the half progressed we started getting comfortable after scoring the goal," the 53-year-old told the media.

"We started seeing more midfielders coming short in front of the opposition which killed our potency in terms of being able to course problems in between the lines and invite the next line and the next line and that made our latter stages of the first half not as dangerous as they could have been. 

"I think we started the second half quite well, probably the best start of the second half this season in my opinion, with good tactical discipline, good rotations. I think we were just unfortunate not to create a lot of good opportunities from that,  but we wanted a result in this game and we got the result. We must congratulate the players for giving their best."

Polokwane City assistant coach Brice Aka insisted Rise and Shine were prepared to cause another upset but ended up making costly errors.

"A tough match like we expected, we were prepared for them but we made mistakes and gave them the game. In football you make mistakes and you get punished," he stated.

Polokwane won the first meeting by a solitary goal which is so far the only loss Masandawana have suffered. He does not regret the loss which he terms a learning curve.

"I'm just trusting the process because I am the one who came up with this idea of trying to make sure that we keep our team as fresh as possible so that we don't have tired legs when we get into games of consequence and I trust the players that we have and I believe they are good enough," Mngqithi added.

"In as much as we lost the match against Polokwane I just think that it was one of the accidents that happen in football. Even if we played the whole day, we were just not potent enough, not creative enough, we were not aggressive and adventurous enough. But that is unlike the team we have had from the beginning of the season, I think we have a team that is more potent than that and I trust all these players, that is why I am prepared to take a bullet when it comes to giving these players a chance to play."

The former AmaZulu coach then revealed the discussion he had with Kutlwano Letlhaku prior to the game.

"It's strange in football because sometimes we look like soothsayers. I told him he's going to score two goals today because I had that feeling that in that side of [Tlou] Nkwe, [Lebohang Nkaki], there's gonna be something that is going to open for us," the Downs tactician opened up.

"If we've got somebody who is dynamic. I could have gone for a more established player but I thought I needed somebody who is willing to take risks. 

"First-half he could have taken three shots but because he's a young boy, he's got respect, he only opened up after he scored," he concluded.

On Sunday, Masandawana have a tough fixture against Marumo Gallants in the Carling Knockout semi-final.

Mngqithi is expected to field his best players to ensure he gets a win that will take him to the final.