‘He mustn’t change anything’ — Sundowns legend ‘Mambush’ Mudau on Shalilule’s goal drought
Mamelodi Sundowns legend Daniel “Mambush” Mudau is confident current leader of their attack Peter Shalulile will soon find his goal scoring touch again after a barren spell.
The Namibian hitman, who was the club’s leading goal scorer in the league last season with 15 strikes, has only kissed the back of the net once in their last seven matches in all competitions.
Shalulile has failed to score against El Merreikh and Al Hilal in the Caf Champions League, and Baroka, Chippa United, Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu in the DStv Premiership.
His only goal during this seven match period was against Richards Bay during the Nedbank Cup last 32 where they thrashed the National First Division (NFD) side 4-0.
Mudau said Shalulile’s goal drought is not a crisis as Lyle Lakay, Themba Zwane, Teboho Mokoena, Bradly Ralani, Rushine de Reuck, Pavol Šafranko and Lesedi Kapinga have contributed goals.
“It happens in football where you find that a star player is out of form but it doesn’t necessarily mean he is suddenly a bad player or there is a crisis,” said former Brazilians captain Mudau, who maintains Shalulile is a game away from returning to his scoring touch.
“If you are a striker, sometimes you go through patches where goals dry up but my advice to him is that he mustn’t try too hard. He must continue doing the same things he has been dong at training.
“He must continue doing the same things he has been doing during matches and the processes he has been following during his spare time when he is resting.
“He must make the same runs, chase the ball the same way he has been doing and give the same effort at training and during matches. I know he is one chance away from returning to his scoring form.”
Mudau said he has found himself in the same situation as Shalulile.
“I remember with me, at one stage I went about seven or eight games without scoring and I asked the late coach Jeff Buttler to put me on the bench against Pretoria City, which is SuperSport United now.
“He was furious with me that I didn’t want to start the match and shouted at me in the dressing room in front of everyone because he felt I can’t handle the pressure and I didn’t want to take responsibility.
“Senior players like Harris Chueu, Harold “Jazzy Queen” Legodi and Bennett Masinga encouraged me to go on and playd.
“As it turned out, Pretoria City scored first after a mistake from goalkeeper Mark Anderson and frustrated fans stormed to the field but when we resumed I went on to score five goals against Deshi Bhaktawer and that turned things around for me and the team as whole.”
Mudau is hoping Shalulile will find his scoring form in a tough match against Al Ahly in the Champions League group stages clash this weekend.
“It is going to be a tough one but Sundowns have been playing at this level for a number of years and I hope they find the back of the net in this game. We know how this North African teams always tries to manipulate game situations.
“They dive even at the slightest tough, they are shouting and they are always trying to confuse and intimidate referees. Most of those teams worry about Sundowns because we are on par with them. No more when Al Ahly used to win by big margins.”