PATIENCE BAMBALELE | Sundowns' one-way traffic to victory is boring for local game

Any sport is boring to watch if one player or team wins all the time.

Sure, that team deserves all the credit for hard work put in, but as a spectator, I can’t bring myself to watch a team knowing it is going to win.

This has been the case with Mamelodi Sundowns, playing in the DStv Premiership League.

It has been one-way traffic collecting the big title. Not that I have an issue with Sundowns’ obvious dominance over other teams, but it’s starting to make the league dull. The DStv Premier League lacks variation. Serious competition is what makes the premiership interesting. It’s like going to movies to watch your superhero that you always know will win but you watch because you want to see how it plays out.

With only 14 games played, it is clear that the Chloorkop team will claim the title without sweating. The last time we sat on the edge of our seats was in 2020 when Kaizer Chiefs lost. I bet all fans enjoyed that adrenaline rush and anxiety.

Sundowns is leading the second team, SuperSport United, by seven points and is on form. It will take a very gutsy team to stop Rulani Mokwena’s boys now. Since the season of 2017-2018, the team has been collecting these trophies uninterrupted. Previously, it has won the trophy many times. In the past 13 years, it was interrupted by Wits University and Kaizer Chiefs. If the team wins again, it means the other 15 teams are in the Premiership to be spectators and clap for the team when it wins.

Do the Soweto giants have a plan to respond to the Pretoria dominance?

The team did not start the league well, but what matters is how you end things. After winning their first game against Tinkler’s boys, they lost against TS Galaxy and SuperSport United in the DStv premiership.

The two losses did not only expose the team but showed that it was struggling without goal poacher Peter Shalulile. A lot of teams were starting to capitalise on the team’s weaknesses.

Sekhukhune United secured a draw against Downs in a match which the team should have lost. For the first time they looked vulnerable. The turning point was after losing against Orlando Pirates in the semi-finals of the MTN 8 Cup. The team introduced changes in the coaching staff and Mokwena assumed head coach position. In their first match as head coach, he beat Maritzburg United 5-0. This is where he brought in young stars like Cassius Mailula and dropped legends like Themba “Mshishi” Zwane.  Since then, the young man has been banging them in as if they are going out of fashion. Since Mokwena took over, the team has not conceded a goal and scored 14 times.

When Mokwena took over, he turned things around. He believes strongly in hard work and young players. Unlike the former school teacher, Manqoba Mnqithi, who was very cautious and seemingly scared to bring in a lot of youngsters. He wanted continuation in terms of performance and style. His goal was to evolve gradually, moving older players out and younger players in.

Mokwena is strategic, rational, and systematic and what sets Mamelodi Sundowns apart is that it believes in visualising the team three or four years ahead and making decisions accordingly. The team is copying what Alex Ferguson did when he arrived at Manchester United.

Sundowns’ dominance is similar to that of Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga. It has been winning the Bundesliga or German Premiership back-to-back since the season of 1996-1997 without any team trying hard to challenge its dominance. For years, Borussia Dortmund looked like a team that wanted to give Munich a run for its money but it was never successful in its attempt.