Pitso Mosimane: My team must improve in Saudi Pro League

Pitso Mosimane: My team must improve in Saudi Pro League

Ahead of his next Saudi Pro League assignment, coach Pitso ‘Jingles’ Mosimane has given a brutal assessment of his Abha Club’s performance. His remarks follow his team’s one-all draw against Al Taawoun last Thursday. The game marked the South African’s second home coming to Saudi Arabia.

How Pitso Mosimane reacted to opening draw in Saudi Pro League

During the game, Abha Club seemed to be heading for a rare win, only to concede four minutes in added time. The result saw Jingles’ side stuck in 17^th place with 15 points from 20 games, two points ahead of bottom-positioned Al Hazem. Al Taawoun sits fourth on 35 points way behind 18-member log leaders Al Hilal’s 56 points.

The next Saudi Pro League game for the former SuperSport United tactician is against Al Fayha on Sunday at Al Majma’a Sport City Stadium in Al Majma’ah. Ahead of the game, Jingles told the league’s website www.spl.com.sa that Abha Club must up their game. He was particularly unhappy with their levels of concentration.

Pitso Mosimane on areas of improvement in Saudi Pro League

“…we lost two points the same way we lost the game against Al Raed [97th minute winner],” he told Saudi Pro League website.  “So, it means we need to improve our concentration at the end, at the last minute of the game in the critical phase. But we played a team that is fourth and you can see why they are a good team.”

The three-time CAF Champions League winner also cited finishing as another area requiring improvements in the Saudi Pro League. “We had our chance and we took it. Yes, it was an own goal but it was forced… because we put the balls in the box. But I am happy with my team. The organisation is better, but we need to improve a little bit going forward now to convince ourselves that we can score.”

How Abha Club fine tuned for the league’s resumption

Ahead of the Saudi Pro League’s resumption, Mosimane fine-tuned with a 4-1 win over Afghanistan 4-1 two weeks ago. It was the first victory for Jingles who had started his reign at Abha Club with a 2-0 loss to Sudan’s Al Hilal three weeks ago. Abha’s opponents in the league include Cristiano Ronaldo’s employers, Al -Nassr.  Fixtures sourced on the Saudi Pro League website show that Abha will entertain Al Nassr on April 11, 2024. The game will take place at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium. The venue is the home for Abha who unveiled the ex-Al Ahly mentor on Friday.

The former Al Wahda coach has joined on a short-term contract. The ex-Bafana Bafana handler has been tasked with saving the club from the jaws of relegation. The 59-year-old has returned to the dugout months after having last coached the United Arab Emirates side, Al Wahda. He quit Al Wahda in November 2023, barely after four months on the job.

Jingles making a return to Saudi Arabia

The South African first arrived in Saudi Arabia last year when he was hired as Al Ahli’s Saudi boss. He was tasked with dragging the club from the second tier to the top-flight league. The clean-shaven mentor achieved that task with aplomb. However, management eventually insisted on bringing in another coach. The Kagiso-born trainer eventually moved to the United Arab Emirates. Little did Mosimane know that he would make a U-turn to Saudi Arabia, this time around at Abha. Apart from Ronaldo, the Saudi Pro League is also home to other stars such as Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez

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