‘We were not happy!’ Williams reveals crunch talks that turned Sundowns’ season around

Mamelodi Sundowns were recently at risk of getting eliminated from the CAF Champions League owing to their inconsistent displays.

Despite their quality, the defending Premier Soccer League champions have also been struggling in domestic assignments. They failed to land the MTN8 and Carling Knockout that were won by current league leaders Orlando Pirates, who have been phenomenal locally.

The results put the players and the technical team under massive pressure from both the supporters and the management. At some point, former club’s coach was linked with a return to the club to replace Miguel Cardoso, who was seemingly struggling to steady the ship.

Masandawana, however, recently managed to beat Rhulani Mokwena’s MC Alger to advance in the CAF Champions League, where they will now face Malian outfit Stade Malien in a two-legged quarter-final.

How crisis talk has benefitted the Brazilians

“Obviously, we had a lot of talks over the last few weeks, we had to reflect as a team,” the Masandawana assistant captain told the club’s media team in a recent interview.

“We were not happy with where we were as a team. There were a lot of positive talks, that’s where we all got to sit down and share our thoughts, and it was good to listen to everyone. In this moment, everyone becomes a leader, and you listen and learn.

“You could see the change in spirit, the change in energy just around the team and around the training ground. So everything has worked out in the way that we expected after having those meetings,” he added.

“Obviously, to top it off, we had a wonderful result [against MC Alger]. I think that was one of our best performances this season. So we need to kick on now and keep those values that we discussed. Just respect the badge. The Mamelodi Sundowns badge is huge. It comes with a lot of responsibility, and we need to always make sure that we keep that at a high level,” Williams concluded.