Sundowns coach: ‘I see Lorch in the change room’

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena sounds like a top psychologist sometimes. Check out his latest report on Thembinkosi Lorch.

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS COACH RULANI MOKWENA STARTS THEMBINKOSI LORCH

It’s almost two months since the 30-year-old from Bloemfontein left Orlando Pirates. The new destination was Kabo Yellow.

Saturday evening saw Lorch earn his first start in the league. Sundowns coach Mokwena has revealed why and how.

“He’s ready now, he’s ready, I see him in the change room,” Mokwena said, as quoted by iDiskiTimes.

“It’s a lot of things, he comes from a team where he’s established the hierarchy because of the number of years so in the change room he’s going to position in the dynamics within the group.

“So he comes into the Sundowns change room, he’s got history and the profile, but he’s got to establish himself in the hierarchy, in the structure, in the dynamics within the group. And of course Lorch with his personality. I know because I worked with him, and I know when he’s settled and when he’s not,” the Sundowns coach added.

BODY LANGUAGE CHANGE

“So when he arrives I could see, I look at the body language, I look, and now I can see a little bit more enthusiastic, he’s got a spring on his step. And that’s what I was waiting for, and you can’t rush that,” the Sundowns coach added.

“It’s Mother Nature and it’s the same with Tashreeq [Matthews], it is the same with [Matias] Esquivel. It’s small things, and you see how he interacts with even the ones on top of the food chain; in everything, you’ve got that, and now you see he gets their trust; they accept him into the group,” Mokwena added.

“He’s smiling, he connects the passes in the rondo’s, he’s in the group, he’s trusted, he’s given the ball even in tight spaces. And that is because he has earned their trust. And Tash has done the same already now, Zuko has done the same. You hear it, you see it and you see even when they hand out bibs to each other you, small things that you look for within the group dynamics.

“It’s not about being a good player; they wouldn’t be here if they were not good players, but it’s the smaller things, and those are the things I always look out for, and sometimes those assist the transition of the individuals and for Lorch I think now he is in the core group and that’s what we brought him here for, ” the highly-regarded Sundowns coach concluded.