Mvala tells how Rulani improved his game

While he feels his game has improved at Mamelodi Sundowns under the guidance of coach Rulani Mokwena, defender Mothobi Mvala believes there is still room for improvement in his game and has vowed to continue working hard.

The 30-year-old joined Sundowns as a midfielder but has been converted into a centre-back, and his performance also saw him being a regular at Bafana Bafana.

He explained how Mokwena helped him improve since joining Sundowns from Highlands Park four years ago. “I think I have improved a lot since I joined Sundowns and worked with coach Rulani,” Mvala said.

“He is someone who pays too much attention to details. Everything starts at training and if you are not doing something right, he is someone who is not shy to call you and say, ‘I’m not happy with your training sessions.'

“He also gave me confidence as a player to work hard and advised me to say, 'you must watch your training sessions and your games to do corrections.'

“If you have a problem, we can call him and all these things help you as a player to improve and those are the things that I learned since I joined Sundowns and worked under coach Rulani.

“You watch your games and see the mistakes that you make and it helps you to improve. I think everyone at Sundowns can see that their game is on another level.”

Mvala came under heavy criticism following his error in their final match against Cape Town City where he lost the ball to Jaedin Rhodes who went on to score the only goal of the game to see Sundowns lose their first game. He said critics have made him stronger.

“It happens to everyone, not everybody would like you. It is the nature of our profession and any athletes in the world,” he said.

“If they don’t do well and make mistakes these things will always come up and we are just unfortunate that we do our work publicly and people are watching and can see everything.

“But you just have to be strong as long as your family is on your side. They help me to recover quickly, including my teammates."