In his decision to bring in Allan Freese at Wydad Casablanca as part of the coaching staff, Rulani Mokwena has proven to be the type of person who never forgets the impact people have made in his life.
In his early days as a coach, Mokwena was at Silver Stars and he had the pleasure of having some experienced mentors around him and one of them was Freese, who is now the technical director. Not even Freese would have imagined that he'd be working at one of the biggest clubs on the continent at this stage of his career, but the impact he made on Mokwena is now being rewarded.
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Mokwena explained his decision to lure the 68-year-old to Casablanca.
"I think you've seen it with Erik Ten Haag at Manchester United. He had someone more senior and more experienced than him. Coach Allan Freese is no stranger to football. I think he's had incredible success. I had the privilege and honour to work with him in my early days as a coach at Silver Stars. Just the other day we were speaking about our experiences and our memories of working at Silver Stars and some of the things we had gone through," Mokwena said during an interview with the South African Football Journalists' Association (SAFJA) on Thursday.
"When the opportunity arose, I thought to myself that sometimes when you are a little younger, you need a little bit more experience around you. And, as I said, coach Allan comes with an incredible pedigree. He is experienced and he is a great man. He has won a lot of trophies, so you need that.
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"You need people who know how to win, but also people who've worked with players who are up and coming. When I looked at the project and the work that we are doing, I thought he fitted the bill well and he was available. I am looking forward to experiencing a lot of the ideas he has. So far so good. With a young technical team, we do need a little bit of experience around us to help us navigate some of the difficulties."
