Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed an issue that followed him from his former side Mamelodi Sundowns to his current club now.
The UMzimkhulu-born coach was dismissed by Masandawana mid-campaign having been in charge from the start of the campaign after replacing Rulani Mokwena.
After that, the former Sundowns mentor re-united with Abafana Bes’thende, returning for a third stint. While his comeback to Arrows had a promising start, the team has recently hit a rough patch, going seven Betway Premiership matches without a win, drawing three and losing four.
Mngqithi revealed that at the start of the season, during his time with Sundowns, his challenge was to help the team create more opportunities and score more goals.
Notably, Masandawana went on to become the first club in South African history to reach 100 goals across all competitions in a single season.
While pleased with the improvements implemented at his former club, Mngqithi has identified the same issue at Arrows where his team is good at keeping possession but not sharp enough upfront.
MNGQITHI HAPPY ABOUT IMPROVING SUNDOWNS SHARPNESS UPFRONT
“In the same season [2024/25], I was in another team, we were also dominating possession but not creating chances and not scoring as many goals,” said Mngqithi.
“And I said it from the beginning of the season that this season I’m trying to build a team that can manufacture chances.
“And from that work, one season probably after 15 seasons, the team has managed to score 100 goals in a season which is something we were far away from considering where we were coming from last season.
“I said it from the beginning that possession sometimes is overrated. We must improve getting into the final third and manufacture chances to score goals.
“That same team has improved tremendously and now I’ve got the same problem I had when I started that other side, where possession was no longer an issue, getting into a final third was no longer an issue.
“But now how do you manufacture chance after chance and try to have people who are a little bit decisive just taking a shot.
“If as a coach I just shout and tell a player that take a shot, then what are we doing?”
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