Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has leapt to the defence of star defender Aubrey Modiba after his latest blunders against Al Ahly.
Modiba, who has made the left-back position his own in recent times, has come under fire for some of his underwhelming performances in recent times.
Back in October last year, Modiba was guilty of a few errors in Sundowns’ 3-0 MTN8 loss to Pirates, and more recently in the match against Al Ahly, where Percy Tau managed to steal the ball from the defender in a dangerous area, leading to Mohamed Sherif’s goal in Sundowns’ 5-2 win at the Loftus Versveld Stadium. Tau also beat Modiba in a one – vs – one situation to score Alhy’s second goal.
5️⃣ OF THE BEST! The Brazilians put on a masterclass this afternoon in front of a packed-out Loftus, putting them top of group B!
Mamelodi Sundowns (3′ Allende, 23′ Zwane, 39′ Mokoena, 72′, 82′ Shalulile) 5️⃣➖2️⃣ Al Ahly SC (12′ Sherif, 61′ Tau)Sundowns TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/2LHvqR0bF6
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) March 11, 2023
Speaking to the media after the match, Sundowns head coach Zinnbauer touched on the defender’s recent blunders taking all the blame for it owing to his expectations of Modiba. “My fault. The mistakes, you’ve got to blame me,” Mokwena told journalists.
“Rewind a little bit to Coton Sport. [We get an] assist because ‘Zeda’ is inside there. In the good moments, appreciate it, in the bad moments, take it also because I want an inverted full-back, I want an extra layer in the build-up. “Sometimes when it works, like for the fifth goal, because people commit an extra number to that extra layer, when it happens no one looks at it, but when it doesn’t happen, it’s my fault because it’s me that says that. We’ll continue playing the way we play. It’s worked the entire season and when there are mistakes, for sure I will be the first to put up my hand. I don’t hide. So definitely 100% I’ll persist,” he added.
Mokwena has taken full responsibility for Modiba’s recent blunders and has vowed to persist with the same game plan despite the mistakes. The head coach believes that the team’s system has served them well throughout the season, and he will continue to back Modiba and the rest of the team.
to build on their recent positive run of form.
