“I think this is where you win the league during this, when games are back-to-back because teams are trying to catch up,” Coetzee said.
Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Rivaldo Coetzee has made a bold claim about Orlando Pirates having to play catch up in the Betway Premiership.
As it stands, the Buccaneers are four games behind Sundowns who have played 20 games.
Pirates are also 18 points adrift of the Brazilians who top the long standings with 54 points in the 30-game domestic calendar campaign.
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Sundowns are away to Golden Arrows at Mpumalanga Stadium on Wednesday night. On the same evening, the Sea Robbers will also pay a visit to Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“I think this is where you win the league, when games are back-to-back because teams are trying to catch up,” Coetzee said on the Sundowns’ Pitchside podcast.
“Mentally, you’re already saying look at the gap. Okay, you have games in hand but they’re not points. Games in hand don’t count so the gap is the same even though you played four or five games less than the top team.
“In order to catch up, you must pray that these guys lose and we have to win all our games and you’re not going to win all of them. You’re going to stumble when we stumble so it’s difficult to play catchup. You see the reaction on the bench, some players drop their heads because it’s difficult.”
His comments were echoed by former Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana who is a regular guest on the popular YouTube podcast.
Kekana knows firsthand the pressure that comes with having a backlog of games towards the latter stages of the league race.
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“I remember the season after we won the Champions League and we lost the league to Wits. It was the same pressure where we had five games in hand and we thought we would win those games, then we’ll win the league but it doesn’t work like that in football,” the legendary midfielder said.
“When you’re playing catchup, you have to squeeze in fixtures in between games. We lost to Maritzburg United, drew against Baroka and Platinum Stars in a space of six days and we thought those were points we would get but it doesn’t work like that.
“We wanted to narrow the gap but it doesn’t work like that and it will play against you simply because you will neglect some of the things that you can do. You relax as a team and that puts you under pressure because when the other team scores first before you, it causes things to collapse.”
Coetzee has had to watch most of the season from the sidelines due to injury. The 28-year-old has only played five league matches in the current campaign.
He gave his thoughts on the growth of the team under Miguel Cardoso who has re-energised them into a well-oiled machine.
“In big games, I don’t even get nervous but you get these games against Polokwane City and these other guys, I’m telling you that it will require a big effort,” Coetzee added.
“You have to match their effort and after that, the football ability will come through but they will make you run and you will suffer even though we are the better team in most games and you’re dominating the ball the whole game but there will be times where you have to suffer.
“At this point, there are so many of us who have been here for a few years and we know how to win games at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s not about playing Tiki-taka.
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“If the results say that we have to go play in the channels, then we do that. we’ll play off second balls, we press you up there to win the ball and keep it in your half. I think now we know how to manage that and that’s why we’re winning games consistently.”
