Golden Arrows head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed that his knowledge of Mamelodi Sundowns is one of the things that helped his side in the 1-1 draw in Hammarsdale on Wednesday.
The defending champions were on a five-match winning streak heading into the encounter but Mngqithi’s charges put that run on breaks, holding them to draw in the coach’s first outing in the dugout since leaving the Pretoria based outfit in December last year.
Mngqithi said knowledge of his former side and having analysed Abafana Bes’thende a lot while still in the capital city were key in his preparations in a short space of time.
“I think I was helped more by that because I have also played a lot of games against Golden Arrows when I was still at Sundowns,” said Mngqithi.
“I was the one preparing to make sure that when we were playing against Arrows we’re in a better space in terms of organisation because I know most of these kids.
“But I was particularly impressed with the attitude and the mentality from the very first training session. I only had two sessions and the first session was mainly for the players that never really played.
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“Then the second session was yesterday [Tuesday] where after a lot of talks in terms of organisation and showing them videos of what to expect, I think they adapted very quickly in a new system because they had not been playing in a 4-3-3 formation.
“I was so impressed to see them adapting so quickly and really trying to stamp their authority. In moments where I thought Sundowns was struggling to deal with our midfield overload but we did not capitalise and be a little bit more incisive in trying to get into more dangerous positions when we were in possession.
“We only got good moments when we were from transition.”
