Rulani: Humorous Self-Reflection with “I’m Just A Thief”

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has revealed the team’s game model and admitted that he is a “thief” when it comes to finding tactical ideas. The Brazilians have come up with revolutionary ideas in the PSL, such as full-backs inverting inside to join the midfield, something that had not been done before.

The team recently set a new PSL record of 32 unbeaten league games with their win over Stellenbosch, and Mokwena has attributed their success to their tactical schemes.

“It’s nothing new, I’m just a thief. I steal ideas, I watch a lot of football. You saw (Sofyan) Amrabat playing for Man United (against Crystal Palace in EFL Cup), left-back and you know what he was doing? He was coming inside,” Mokwena said in a press conference.

“Thomas Partey at Arsenal, right back, what is he doing? He’s coming inside. John Stones, centre-back, sometimes right back, what does he do? He comes inside. So all these things you see us doing, it’s just that I watch a lot of football, I watch a lot of Brighton (and Hove Albion), they do crazy things with the build-up, three and two, four and two, two and two and they even get to double pivot,” he added.

The Brazilians have also brought Rivaldo Coetzee back to the line-up this season, playing him just in front of the defence, alongside Marcelo Allende, and pushing Teboho Mokoena a little bit further in midfield.

Mokwena explains that they do this double pivot to have balance in attack and in defence, and this is where their game model is headed.

“If you think about a double pivot in a sense of a see-saw, if it moves a little bit this way, it loses balance, if it also moves that way it loses balance, so it has to have that middle ground that keeps the weight and that’s the team,” he said.

“The double pivot is what you find now with Riva (Coetzee) moving into the next line, to give the team balance, so in attack you have balance, in defence you have balance, this is where we’re going,” he concluded.