Lamontville Golden Arrows head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has outlined what he needs to “control” ahead of facing in-form Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership.
Abafana Bes’thende will host Amakhosi on Saturday, 30 August at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban at 5:30 PM. The KZN side is coming from a win against Magesi FC in midweek, their second in the new 2025/26 season.
Meanwhile, the Phefeni Glamour Boys will be looking to get back to winning ways after drawing against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday. Before that match, they had opened the season with three wins on the trot.
Mngqithi believes his team is highly motivated after earning maximum points, putting them in a strong position for the major challenge against Nasreddine Nabi’s troops.
The former Sundowns mentor, Mngqithi, says he wants to handle the “anxiety” ahead of Saturday’s outing, as it could be a big factor working against them when they face the Soweto giants.
MNGQITHI – ARROWS MOTIVATED AHEAD OF FACING KAIZER CHIEFS
“For me, every win is important. I always say to people, if you want to be successful in a championship, you must focus more on winning games like Magesi, because those are the games that require a little bit more because the level of intrinsic motivation is not very high,” said Mngqithi.
“Even if you don’t win against Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns, but if you do very well against the so-called smaller opposition, that’s where the championship is.
“I’ve always said the success of Sundowns in the championship has always been hinging around them beating all these smaller teams, because we’ve [when he was still at Sundowns] hardly had seasons where we would win all the big matches, but when we win smaller matches [it’s important] because they are more than the so-called big matches.
“And going into Chiefs’ game, I don’t think it’s up to me to motivate them [Arrows players], unlike the game of Magesi. Against Magesi, I have to dig very deep just to make them understand how important it is to get the three points.
“But against Chiefs, the level of intrinsic motivation is very high. You must just try to control the anxiety, because when the motivation is that high, there is a very big chance of anxiety, which is an enemy of good technical execution. When you are anxious, you can’t execute technically the way you want to.
“So, yes, winning against Magesi is a motivation, but I think even if you had lost three matches before playing Chiefs, when you play them, the level of motivation is naturally very high.”
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