Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has addressed the shock decision from Wydad AC to appoint Sven Vandenbroeck before their CAF Champions League semi-final clash.
The African champions parted ways with Juan Carlos Garrido last week after just two months in charge after being left disappointed with their performances over Simba SC in the quarter-finals and the 1-1 draw with Botola Pro leaders ASFAR shortly after.
And it’s ironically a former coach of both those sides, Sven Vandenbroeck, who also worked as the assistant to Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos during their triumphant 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with Cameroon – who replaces the Spaniard in the dugout.
“The preparation, this time of the season, we are fortunate, we have training sessions for sure but when we’re in camp we do a lot of video analysis on us and what we want to do but also on the opposition,” Mokwena said after the Belgian opened up his tenure at Wydad with a 3-1 win in midweek over SCC Mohammédia.
“On the new coach, there’s not much in terms of the profile of the team that’s changed. Before the coach, [there] were very good players, aggressive wing-play, and very aggressive possibilities to threaten on the counterattack.
“Small adaptations within the model of play with the new coach, from a defensive perspective, on the pressing looks a bit higher, more emphasis on build-up with [Houcine] Benayada especially – bigger influence.
“But look it’s a lot of hard work and we have to just continue to do the work, profile – but we have done work on profiling him, prior to him being appointed in his various clubs in Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, there’s a lot of detail that has to go in, but it’s the work we always do with a lot of support from the analysis and the rest of the coaches.”
The first leg tie will take place on Saturday evening in Casablanca at the Stade Mohammed V at 21h00.
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