Mosimane reveals the key ingredients he uses to deal with fixture congestion

Wily Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has made enough turns around the block to develop a strategy to deal with the inevitable fixture congestion that accompanies a side that competes on the domestic and continental from every year.

Experience‚ bravery and meticulous squad and game management are some of the key ingredients that Mosimane turns to when dealing with fixture congestion.

Sundowns will play their third match in seven days in all competitions on Saturday‚ including a return Caf Champions League trip from Seychelles‚ and Mosimane said their challenges needs a delicate balancing act.

They won 5-0 against Cote d’Or in the Champions League at the weekend and then host SuperSport United in the MTN8 semifinals on Wednesday night. They end their busy week with an Absa Premiership league clash against Maritzburg United on Saturday.

Explaining how he manages his programme‚ Mosimane said most of the time there is no time to train at Chloorkop.

“This shows how difficult it is to run a season at Mamelodi Sundowns‚ but who cares that you don’t train‚” he said as he prepared to host city rivals SuperSport at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

“I hear coaches asking for time to train‚ to fix their team‚ but where do we find the time to train when we run a programme like the one we are running?

"It is a difficult programme but we have big expectations from our supporters and you the media‚” he said‚ adding that their limited time on the training pitch is not ideal.

“It needs a lot of experience and bravery because not being on the pitch is a problem.

"You have to manage the squad and the games and to get the body to recover.

"Squad and game management affect the selection of the team and there is risk-taking because the programme wants you to juggle.

“Once you change the approach‚ the set-up of the team‚ line-ups and training programme‚ something may backfire and you must make sure that whatever backfires is not the most important or crucial to your main objectives.

"It needs a lot of experience‚ team-work and feedback from the players about how they feel.

"You must trust that what you are doing is right.

"We wish we were on the training pitch to prepare for the match against SuperSport United because we are in the semi-final‚ but unfortunately it is not the case.”