Wydad Casablanca head coach Rulani Mokwena has offered a glimpse into the first two weeks of the Moroccan giants’ five-week programme since his appointment.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns mentor revealed how he has been going about his business at his new club and how his troops have been adapting to his style as their coach.
Mokwena was appointed as the new Wydad coach last month after his shock departure from Masandawana.
The 37-year-old recruited four South Africans to form part of his technical team at Wydad ahead of the new season. The four technical team members are Alan Freese [technical director], Sinethemba Badela [assistant coach], Sibusiso Makitla [analyst], and Sibusiso Mahlangu [fitness trainer].
RULANI MOKWENA ON WYDAD CASABLANCA SINCE TAKING OVER AS HEAD COACH
Speaking with the club’s media department, Mokwena expressed his delight with how his preparations have been unfolding since he took over the coaching reins. The ex-Orlando Pirates coach went on to appreciate the support he has been getting from Wydad’s hierarchy and their role in players’ recruitment.
“We are in the second week of our five-week programme. We are quietly going about our business and trying to put together a strong competitive squad,” said Mokwena.
“I have to give a lot of compliments to the work that has been done behind the scenes by everybody involved in recruiting and bringing in the players, including the technical team. They are doing incredible work.
“And of course, I have to give a huge credit to the board, the president of the club, and senior management for acquiring some of the players. This puts us coming into the second week in better shape than we were in the beginning.”
Mokwena continued: “But we still have a lot of work to do. We have to push ourselves to try to get ourselves into good condition. We have certain objectives every week, and we are moving into what would be competitive, where we play a lot of friendly games.
“This will help us to try to get the condition, the personality and the methodology going. And that’s not easy because we have to try to change the personality of the team and try to induct the new players into what we believe would be our way of playing that would bring us a lot of success.
“Also, to make the supporters happy. We just have to continue to focus on that slowly but surely over the next few weeks and get ourselves in good shape.”
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