Mothobi Mvala finally made his debut for Mamelodi Sundowns at the weekend, and an honest assessment of his progress has been provided.
The former Highlands Park skipper joined the Brazilians along with striker Peter Shalulile, and while the latter has made an immediate impact, it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon – away to Golden Arrows – that Mvala played for the first time.
“Mvala did his best, he has got a lot to offer the team but he is still in an adaptation phase to try and induct him into the way of play at Sundowns,” was the feedback from joint head coach Rulani Mokwena to the media.
Mvala did put Downs ahead before Arrows levelled matters to make it 1-1 in their final match of the year in the DStv Premiership.
“He comes from a different style of football at Highlands and he’s got players around him with good characteristics that can help influence the way we want to play at the club. For his debut, to score a goal from a set piece, should be encouraging for him. But with a lot of humility and a lot more work still to be done within adapting to the game model,” Mokwena added.
Mvala featured in 34 matches from all competitions for Highlands last season before he and Shalulile, the league’s joint top scorer then, moved to Sundowns as the club also sold its top-flight status to Tim Sukazi and renamed TS Galaxy.
