Why Sundowns made new addition to coaching team

Sundowns currently have a 23-point lead at the summit of the DStv Premiership standings, and are virtually assured of securing yet another league title.

One way or another, the club clearly has no intention to rest on its laurels, and on Tuesday it was confirmed that Sundowns had bolstered their technical team and football department with the appointment of Michael Loftman as ‘set play coach’.

ALSO READ | FINALLY SOME GOOD INJURY NEWS FOR KAIZER CHIEFS

Loftman previously worked as a performance analyst for Pirates for two years between 2018 and 2020 when Rhulani Mokwena was a member of Micho Sredojevic’s technical team.

Sundowns effectively sent out another warning to their rivals when explaining the reasoning behind this latest appointment.

“The appointment was made in an effort to raise the bar including a specialist to the Technical Team,” a statement read. “All elite sport is about gaining small margins. Replays and restarts are a significant part of modern-day football and are even more crucial when playing in the CAF Champions League.”

Mamelodi Sundowns will travel to Cameroon for its second ground B Match against Coton Sport Garoua and Michael will travel with the team. In his role, the experienced coach and performance data analyst will work on the pitch and compile analytic data to provide information to improve an important part of the game.

IMAGES | BENNI MCCARTHY’S TRIBUTE TO AKA IN PICTURES

Sundowns made another big announcement this month

In other big news to emerge from Sundowns recently, it was confirmed last week that the club’s Under-15 side will participate in this year’s Kevin De Bruyne Cup, becoming the first African team to join the immensely popular two-day event.

Global football icon Kevin De Bruyne, who plays for Manchester City and Belgium, has proudly associated his name with the KDB Cup ever since the inaugural edition took place in 2016. It is now widely-regarded as the most prestigious youth tournament in Europe, with the sixth edition set to take place on 10-11 June 2023 in Belgium.

ALSO READ | MAMELODI SUNDOWNS SET ANOTHER PSL RECORD WITH ORLANDO PIRATES WIN

This year will be the first time the tournament has gone global, with representation from across three continents, including South America, Europe and Africa.

It has been officially confirmed that Mamelodi Sundowns’ youth team will take part in the KDB Cup for the first time this year, joining U15 counterparts such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.