South African Rulani Mokwena is one of the top coaches in the continent despite being just 37 years old.
He has coached big teams like Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns with Wydad Casablanca coming for him after parting ways with Masandawana.
While with the Brazilians, Mokwena managed to win two Premier Soccer League titles and the inaugural African Football League. His style of football was admired by many both in and outside Mzansi.
What did Klopp tell Mokwena?
One of Mokwena's role models is former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. The duo met in Liverpool's training ground some time back.
The vocal tactician concedes he has to work harder to ensure he matches those who played professional football, “I have got to work four times as hard as some coaches because of my handicap. I didn’t play professional football and I know how the world reacts to that,” he told Forbes Africa.
“Coaches who did not play the game at a professional level have got very little to fall back on when they fail because they don’t have a reputation of having made people happy in their playing days.
“Klopp said to me, ‘know just enough as a head coach not to be bullsh*ted, so that people don’t pull wool over your eyes',” Mokwena recalled.
How does Mokwena keep up to speed?
“I try to invest my time in different areas; in training sessions, I have had the players wear GoPro cameras so that I can see what they see,” he continued.
“I put certain demands on them, and I see whether they think about the rules and the action they have to take.
“You get to see how many scans certain players do in a period of time. A player like Rivaldo Coetzee [of Mamelodi Sundowns] scans four or five times in 15 to 20 seconds before he receives the ball. That allows him to make the right decision almost every single time.
“The best players in the world don’t think about their actions, their brain just executes, because they have done these things over and over. The motor mechanics in the brain have been developed. They can comfortably perform even the most difficult tasks.”
Mokwena has so far played six matches in Morocco and managed three wins, two draws, and a defeat as he continues to rebuild Wydad AC.
