South African Rulani Mokwena reckons his job at Algerian outfit MC Alger is the most challenging of all the clubs he has coached thus far.
Mokwena is a young coach who is making his mark on the continental stage, and following in the footsteps of compatriot and mentor, Pitso Mosimane.
At the age of 38, Mokwena has already coached two of the biggest clubs in the Premier Soccer League, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. He went on to take over the most successful club in Morocco, Wydad Casablanca, and is now at Algiers powerhouses, MC Alger.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with members of the SA Football Journalists Association, Mokwena outlined some of the things that make the Algerian league tougher than the PSL and the Botola Pro 1 in Morocco.
“I must say, this is probably my hardest job from many different aspects of football management. This job encompasses technical, psychological, and political challenges as well,” Mokwena said.
A great challenge
“The managerial side of it, from the players to the staff, to the senior management and the presidents, to dealing with the administrative issues, to dealing with managing the facility, to dealing with logistics. And so, it’s been a great challenge.
“I think this is a different terrain. Of course, if you read up and you do the research on the league, not many teams have won the league three, four times in a row.
“So, that tells you already about the competitiveness of the league. Normally, on average, the average scoreline in the league is one-nil.
“And from that type of perspective, that informs you not only about the competitiveness, but the quality that is the difference is very marginal between the teams. But this has been an incredible and educational challenge,” Mokwena added.
Dream, unbeaten start
Mokwena had a dream start in Algeria, as his side is on top of the log standings with 22 points and is unbeaten in their eight league matches.
They will return to action on Friday, when they travel to Rwanda to take on Al Hilal in their CAF Champions League Group C match.
