Ladies and gentlemen, it is an open secret that Mamelodi Sundowns have enjoyed total dominance of South African football, especially in the last six seasons or so. Even Stevie Wonder and Babsy Mlangeni combined can see that the Brazilians are ahead of everyone and the gap continues to grow, instead of the rest catching up and closing in on the Chloorkop-based outfit. Everyone can see coach Rhulani Mokwena's team is not where they are by fluke, they've paid their school fees and deserve everything good happening to them.
What we seem to lose in our analysis of the situation and the team's dominance in local football, based on views expressed almost everywhere by everyone, is the growing tendency to think that Sundowns are where they are because the two Soweto giants, in Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, have not been firing on all cylinders for some time now. More so Chiefs than Pirates, who managed to push Sundowns last campaign and finished second with two trophies to show for their season. This growing inclination seeks to degrade and undermine the hard work done by those in charge at Ka Bo Yellow! To suggest that their success has to do with the two teams' lack of success or competitiveness is downright disrespectful to all the hard work that is put into making Sundowns such a dominant force in our game.
Also, blaming Sundowns for making the DStv Premiership a 'Farmer's League' is completely misguided and unfortunate because all they did was just to issue a "Catch us if you can" challenge to all the other 15 teams in the league. What can be wrong with one team looking after their affairs and doing things right? What is wrong with a team that never gets enough or satisfied of their achievements? What is wrong with a team that always looks for perfection rather than comfortability? Is there anything wrong with a team that is clearly putting our football on the map, as they've now become a powerhouse in the continent? A team that has put a lot of respect to South African football's name and reputation for almost a decade now?
By the way, this is the team that made sure that players get remunerated fairly when they started pushing players' salaries and increased competition in the market. Were they wrong to do that? We really need to put things into perspective when dealing with this Sundowns dominance and not be emotional about it. Yes, it is a bitter pill to swallow for most of the supporters as the two Soweto giants enjoy the most support, but maybe it is time they also get their act together and competed. Pirates, as mentioned already, are on the right track, while Amakhosi are still finding their feet, yet again, under their new mentor Molefi Ntseki. It is well-documented that Sundowns used to terrorise the transfer market, splashing cell phone number figures to lure their targets.
That was seen as weakening the opposition because they made it a point that they went out of their way to get whoever they were interested in. Like in any transaction, nothing is ever guaranteed in life and some of those signings didn't work out, as they hardly played or made any difference, notwithstanding the impact they had at their previous clubs. This resulted in them being accused of signing players they didn't need, just for the sake of it, and 'destroying careers' while 'weakening the opposition'. When you look at Sundowns in the last five transfer windows, it is interesting to note that they've brought in almost the same number of new signings, if not less, as other teams. Gone are the days of them going crazy in the market, no one is accusing them of flexing their financial muscle to dominate the rest anymore, but no one is giving them credit for improving in their transfer dealings.
No one is making noise about the well-executed transfers and how they have been consistently doing well domestically and even in the continent. Has anyone noticed how most of Sundowns' new signings have improved on and off the field, after joining the club? We don't appreciate the work done by these guys enough and it has to be said! We don't have to wait for things to get ugly before we remark. We also have to encourage the behaviour of giving people their flowers while they can still smell them.
People also forget that, from coach Pitso Mosimane's days, most of the current technical team has been together for over five years now. The level of continuity, harmony and togetherness we've witnessed from that technical team is something unheard of in South African football. Most of the time, the assistant coaches are always ready to take over from the head coach, with the Technical Directors accused of sabotaging the head coach and creating animosity instead of pulling in the same direction.
When everyone's roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, there is very little chance of there being any grey area. Surely there is something these guys at Sundowns are doing right and it is no crime to 'steal' from them with your eyes and try to implement similar systems. After all, we always learn and if their modus operandi has seen them doing so well for so long, surely there is something to learn from them. No one gives the Brazilians credit for trusting local talent enough to support them wholeheartedly. A quick glance in their technical team, you will see a Rainbow Nation. You will see local talent being given a chance to shine and that can only augur well for the future of the club and the country's football.
You've got to give credit to their technical team for understanding the responsibility on their shoulders to pave the way for the next generation of local talent so that not only the Europeans get the privilege of leading our big teams. They seem to understand that the job is bigger than their egos, the club is bigger than them and the players deserve everyone's help. There seems to be no one-man show even with the changes that were implemented last year. In a working environment like that, only the good can come out and because of their consistency, they have earned the right to pick and choose in the market. They have the right to shut everyone up and do as they please, because they've earned their stripes.
That is how you tactfully get the powers that be to surrender their power and control, so that the technical team can build their own team in their own way. Until you earn the trust of the management, they will always have an opinion on how you should run the team. While this may sound as either good or bad advice, when they are right their advice will be appreciated but when they are wrong, the buck stops with the coach. It starts as just a genuine piece of advice until it becomes an instruction and then the coach cries foul, accusing them of interference. That's because the management hasn't got full faith in the coach and they are scared things might just turn out ugly for the team.
At the time of writing, Sundowns were due to visit Polokwane City at Peter Mokaba Stadium, boasting a 100% record in the league after five games. They are the only team with a zero in their "Lost" column, while they have scored 11 goals and only collected the ball from Ronwen Williams' net twice. The Brazilians are clearly ahead of everyone and it will take some doing to catch up to them, let alone to leapfrog them. On another positive note, credit where it is due. South African football supporters, you deserve credit for the way you've been supporting the Beautiful Game, packing our stadium even in midweek, night games. That's remarkable and deserving of acknowledgement.
