A quieter Rulani? Coach finds peace and growth in ‘solitude’ in Algeria

He is adamant about the “personality change” and from much of what he says it certainly seems Rulani Mokwena is developing a quieter, more introspective side in North Africa as he has begun his term at MC Alger with some success.

That he resists being drawn into anything remotely resembling fieriness when asked about his relationship in Algeria with the at times equally volatile CR Belouizdad boss Sead Ramovic, with whom then Mamelodi Sundowns coach Mokwena had a running feud when the German Serb led TS Galaxy in the 2023-24 season, says a lot.

Since surprisingly leaving Mamelodi Sundowns after a successful tenure as head coach somewhat acrimoniously in June 2024, Mokwena took charge of a financially troubled Wydad Athletic. He steered them to a creditable third place as he left three matches before the end of the 2024-25 campaign, improving on sixth in 2023-24.

That was not enough for the demanding Moroccan giants and they parted ways with the 38-year-old South African coaching prodigy, who had followed in the footsteps of his Sundowns boss he assisted as they won the 2016 Caf Champions League, Pitso Mosimane, in taking a path north. Wydad and Mokwena parted ways after a period where he was sidelined in April.

Such is the reputation he has carved out as a zealously workaholic, fanatically meticulous boffin in just over six years of head coaching that Mokwena did not have to wait long for another job in North Africa. Algerian powerhouses MC Alger, whose previous boss Khaled Ben Yahia stepped down at the end of his contract after winning the 2024-25 Ligue Professionnelle 1, headhunted the South African in July.

Mokwena has Alger top of the log with 22 points from eight unbeaten games, seven of which they have won. He has also steered them into the Champions League group stage.

The coach was asked a baiting question late last week in a digital press conference with the South African Football Journalists’ Association — if he has a relationship with Ramovic, whose Belouizdad are wallowing in eight place, now that the two work in Algeria. He did not bite.

“No, I’ve got no comment ― I’m focused. I think you guys [the South African football press] see I speak less in the media, I try to keep a low profile and focus only on the things I can control,” he said. “My bathtub is extremely full so I try to get rid of some of the [excess water].

“There’s one thing I learnt while I was here ― because I read quite a lot ― they call it ‘mental fatigue’ and it’s about how some of the best leaders in the world and presidents try to eliminate things that put unnecessary pressure on the thought processes. As small a thing as, for example, Barack Obama has 30 of the same suits, so he doesn’t have to make a decision on which suit to wear every day and that allows him to focus better.

“So I’ve also tried to eliminate quite a few things and focus on what’s more important and demand a bit more from me mentally.”

Coaching out of the country, especially in such a foreign culture immersed in football as arid as the landscape is in North Africa, can be a toughening experience.

Mokwena likes his support structure: young Belgian assistant, Enzo Donis, who helps with communication in French; former Downs goalkeeper coach Wendell Robinson; “extremely knowledgeable” Algerian keeper trainer Fouad Cheriet; fitness trainer Sibusiso Mahlangu; and analyst Said El Nahhas. He says he has a “loyal and invested” president in Mohamed Hakim Hadj Redjem, who travels with the team to every away fixture including in Caf competitions

Mokwena was asked what he had learnt about himself in North Africa.

“I’ve realised I’m stronger than I thought. It’s very difficult ― this is an extremely difficult profession. But it’s extremely rewarding too in that you develop not only qualities of leading yourself but also others and watching them become better versions of themselves.

“But from a personal perspective I’ve learnt there’s a lot of reward in silence. Working a bit more behind the scenes, speaking less in the media and less on social media even, and I think you guys hear far less from me than what was the norm in South Africa. But also, I did a lot of press conferences [in the PSL] and it was mandatory. But I actually like the solitude a lot and the ability to just sit and watch my work speak for itself.

“That is something I think I’ve learnt about myself ― that I don’t always have to speak, I don’t always have to defend myself, I don’t always have to focus on things that will not help me become a better person.

“I can sit back and just work extremely hard. And I always say I don’t think I’m the best coach in Africa, but I do think I’m the hardest-working coach. And that I think is a weapon of mine I’ve got to trust more than my mouth.

“I think that has probably been my biggest takeaway and change in my personality of the last year-and-a-half.”

The percentage, give-nothing-away football also provides a training module for the attack-minded coach.

Now at Alger, every time there’s a long sequence of passes there’s an ‘olé, olé’ from the crowd. That helps because that’s my type of outlook, where everything starts with the foot on the ball. The ability to dominate the opposition and not just control the game.

—  Rulani Mokwena

“It’s a different terrain. If you read up on the league, not many teams have won it three or four times in a row ― that tells you something about its competitiveness. Almost all the scorelines are 1-0, there’s only one goal difference between teams on the log, so the quality is marginal between the teams.

“Also, the physicality, aggression and counterattacking prowess of many of the teams that sit in the second zone, in the low block and really try to minimise and control important areas of the pitch. Teams in the north are very well coached from that tactical perspective.

“It’s been very good for me because my orientation on football is more from an offensive standpoint and of course then every week I get an opportunity to test some principles on how to play against a reinforced, low block. And we all know as coaches that’s probably one of the hardest things to do.”

It’s not all attrition. Mokwena says: “What also helps is I think in Algeria there is also a bit more appreciation for possession football.”

“In the sense that, if you remember when we were here with Mamelodi Sundowns against CR Belouizdad, at the end the CRB fans started supporting Sundowns because they appreciated the style of play. Now at Alger, every time there’s a long sequence of passes there’s an ‘olé, olé’ from the crowd.

“That helps because that’s my type of outlook, where everything starts with the foot on the ball. The ability to dominate the opposition and not just control the game.

“The hardest part is that when there is a lot of pressure, all new learning is erased. So the players tend to forget some of the things the coach teaches them.

“That’s why in some games where we had a lot of pressure, in the early stages of the game, in the early stage in the season and working with the players, you’ve seen a team that is able to suffer without the ball for long periods and do it very well.

“This is what I appreciate a lot about this group. It can keep clean sheets, it has one of the best goalkeepers in Africa in [Alexis] Guendouz ― top three at least. And there is the back five that has played together for very long and has a lot of experience and quality.”

Mokwena left Sundowns under something of a cloud, with reports ― after he steered the club to a seventh successive Betway Premiership title by a points record and a second Champions League semifinal in 2023-24 ― of clashes with technical director Flemming Berg.

The old Mokwena might have made some salty responses to questions about being drawn in the Champions League’s Group C with Downs.

Again he resisted, though perhaps there was the mildest of digs at successor Miguel Cardoso’s Sundowns that Mokwena deflected to Saint Eloi Lupopo of Democratic Republic of the Congo, who knocked Orlando Pirates out on penalties in the second preliminary round, as the potential banana peel.

“People speak a lot about Al-Hilal [of Sudan], quarterfinalists last season; Sundowns were finalists and Alger quarterfinalists, and not a lot is spoken about Lupopo. I think those [Lupopo home and away] are the two big games for all three of the other teams.

“It will be a tight group. We are excited about the opportunity to compete and try to do better than last season, and that’s the main message.”

Neatly dribbled, coach.