Mngqithi likes what he sees in new signing Mbule

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi says he likes what he sees in new signing Sipho Mbule since joining from SuperSport United last month.

The 24-year-old Mbule has been training hard at Sundowns trying to adapt to his new surroundings while the rest of the squad were on holiday.

According to Mngqithi, there is still a lot of work to be done with midfielder Mbule, but once the new season gets underway he will be ready to shine for the Brazilians.

“I’m happy with the progress that Mbule has made. Physically, he looks very good. But we still have a lot of work to do,” Mngqithi told the media.

“Players that are also coming from injury it’s also very important for them to gain confidence and see if they can also compete.

“We are hoping that [Erwin] Saavedra will be in a good shape and also Rivaldo Coetzee and all the other players that we are bringing in will be in a position to help us.”

Mngqithi explained what they were doing in pre-season and how they were preparing the players for the upcoming season.

“We have to respect the principles of adaptation. We started with the tests obviously, the first thing is endurance and strength base. Secondly, we are looking at maybe working on team tactics while still cooperating on endurance capacity and still working on our intense approach to the game,” Mngqithi said.

“Then the last cycle that’s where we will be looking at the sharpness of the team and that’s when this tournament [Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup] comes in because it is already the preparations for the beginning of the season.

“And that’s when we will see if everybody is in a good position to perform and be ready to give us what we want.”

Sundowns will be in action in 23 July at the Legacy Cup in Ulundi to help them prepare for the new season.

“We normally struggle to get teams in the last two weeks before the first match of the season.” said Mngqithi. “So, it is always important to have a tournament in that space because it guarantees you an opportunity to have a friendly.

“Not many teams want to come and play friendly against us at that time, so it is very good for us.”