Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has given his views on the PSL Footballer of the Season debate after Teboho Mokoena beat Monnapule Saleng and Ronwen Williams to the accolade.
Mokoena won the main award at Sunday’s PSL awards gala, with the PSL Footballer of the Season being voted for by the 16 coaches in the top flight for his fine performances in 2022/23.
However, it has since sparked a major debate on social media and among fans, but Mokwena was clear in his message, saying the midfielder’s contribution cannot be majored in stats.
“Congratulations to Tebza, I think well deserved,” he told the club’s media team.
“There is that talk… you talk about assists and goals and I listen to these things, but where we are in regards to using different metrics, Tebza as compared to Ronwen, for example, you can’t measure Tebza and Ronwen on the same matrix, their contributions are completely different.
“So we have to understand that. And for sure, the influence of the Footballer of the Season goes way beyond just the goals and the assists because it’s an influence that has to go into a space where you look at different dynamics and you look at different matrix and measurements that are put with regards to different positions and the demands that those positions take.
“So Tebza deserves, in my opinion, the praise and the accolades he’s received, so big congratulations to him.”
Mokwena also congratulated the club’s other awards winners after Sundowns had a clean sweep in the DStv Premiership positional awards, while Cassius Mailula was named DStv Premiership Young Player of the Season.
“Congratulations to the football club, it’s a reflexion of the work and even though we celebrate too much the individual accolades, it is a moment, it is individual recognition, it is a moment to sit back and appreciate the contributions and the hard work of the individuals within the team – still understanding that without the contributions of everybody there wouldn’t be these individual awards but it is moments to appreciate them,” he added.
“Congratulations to Ronza, I think it’s well deserved. Congratulations to Cassius, I think he’s been excellent, in his first season he’s been incredible.
“Big congratulations to Peter for having an incredible season and also a season where he struggled with injuries and missed a major part of the season. Peter missed the first round of the season but still finished as the top joint-goal scorer.
“You can imagine if Peter had started the season and continued the season with us and had a couple more games in the first round… He deserves it because of the hard work and consistency.
“Incredible congratulations to Sailor Mudau, he’s been fantastic, he’s had a great season. He’s also one of the players that makes us proud when we see what he’s done, when watch his evolution and how he’s improved with a lot of hard work and some investment, the amount of time that we put in behind. Incredible.”
