TSHWANE — Sundowns veteran Esrom Nyandoro yesterday accused his team — which is third from bottom of the Absa Premiership table — of lacking maturity.
The Zimbabwean and Surprise Moriri are the only players still with the Brazilians who were around when Sundowns last won silverware — the 2008 Nedbank Cup.
Sundowns suffered eight defeats in a row before narrowly beating city rivals “AmaTuks” 1-0 in the Telkom Knockout last week. Results like these, Nyandoro said, clearly demonstrate that, while the present Sundowns players might possess potential, they haven’t yet come of age.
At the weekend, Sundowns struggled again, securing only a point from their Premier League clash against Ajax Cape Town at the Cape Town Stadium.
“Surprise and Esrom can’t win the games. As much as we need (the rest of the team), they need us because the game is not about individuals,” Nyandoro said ahead of the Telkom Knockout quarter-final clash against AmaZulu tomorrow at the King Zwelithini Stadium.
“We are still talking to the guys. It is unfortunate that we still have quite a young team, not like before where we had youngsters, but somehow they were mature enough.
“One thing to point out is that we have better players now. But (in the past) players like Brian Baloyi, Michael Manzini and Peter Ndlovu were more mature. We had young players back then in Vuyo Mere, but we never really promoted from the development side. We have done a lot more of that with the current team.”
Nyandoro said Sundowns were now going into each match — league or cup — as underdogs, even though the Brazilians have won a record five Premier League titles.
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“It’s a concern. Obviously we are disappointed as a team,” he said.
“It’s been long since we won something. We want to change that. We always play to win not to lose. I am hoping this tournament, the Telkom Knockout, is our ticket to change things and win something.”
Nyandoro continues to be a regular under coach Johan Neeskens, while Moriri has dropped down the midfield pecking order. — Sportlive
