Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has explained the thinking behind the wholesale changes to his side's starting XI in their midweek Betway Premiership win against Polokwane City.
Mngqithi rung the changes at the Loftus Versveld Stadium, making no less than nine changes to the team that beat Kaizer Chiefs 4-0 in the Carling Knockout over the weekend.
The move came as a shock to some given the fact that Sundowns' changes came back to haunt them in the reverse fixture where they suffered their first league defeat to Rise and Shine - but Mngqithi explained his thinking behind the decision.
"The truth is, I'm just trusting the process," he told the media after the match.
"I'm the one who came up with this idea of trying to make sure that we keep our team as fresh as possible so that we don't have tired legs when we get into games of consequence and I trust the players that we have, and I believe they are good enough in as much as we lost the match in Polokwane. But I just think that was one of the incidents that happens in football.
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"I think that day was just one of those days where even if we were to play the whole day we were just not potent enough, we were just not mobile enough, not creative enough, not aggressive and adventurous enough. But that is unlike the team that we have had from the beginning of the season. I think we have a team that is more potent than that and I trust all these players. That's why I'm prepared to take a bullet when it comes to giving these players a chance to play because I believe it will help the team, we can't have so many good players and not play them and only concentrate on one group of players and when those players are injured or tired or whatever the case might be, then we've got a serious collapse at a very difficult stage of the season. I don't want that collapse. I want us to have a little bit more depth.
"We're now giving ourselves options to be able to manoeuvre. The staff is not going to try and bring players that we have never given an opportunity to before. So, for me that is very important. I know to many of you it is a risk, but the players we have with us are good enough. Whoever plays at Sundowns is good enough to help the team to win the league. And if he is not good enough to help the team to win the league, he should not be at Sundowns. Because those players, if we are hoping they must help us to win the Champions League and we are scared to play them in the league, then what are we trying to do?
"So, personally I always believe when you select a group of players that you think he can help you throughout. You must also have trust in those players and not be fixed on a particular group of players, because ultimately when you meet these players, they are not at the right state of mind, or they are not match ready because they have not had enough game time. And now I've got a nice problem of players that are all capable of raising their hand," he added.
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