Mamelodi Sundowns have added Michael Loftman to their technical team, with the former VFA head coach joining Rulani Mokwena’s backroom stuff as “Set Play Coach”.
Mokwena himself had hinted at further changes and additions to his technical team after the big shake-up in October last year saw him take the reigns as head coach, while Steve Komphela was named First Team Coach, while Manqoba Mngqithi switched from co-head coach to Senior Coach.
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On Tuesday, Masandawana announced the addition of Loftman, who will already travel with the squad for their CAF Champions League away fixture at Coton Sport this coming weekend.
“Mamelodi Sundowns has bolstered its Technical Team and football-department with the appointment of Michael Loftman as Set Play Coach,” the club said via a statement.
“The appointment was made in an effort to raise the bar including a specialist to the Technical Team. All elite sport is about gaining small margins. Replays and restarts are a significant part of modern-day football and are even more crucial when playing in the CAF Champions League.
“Loftman, who has held various coaching roles as head coach and development coach, holds a UEFA A license from the English FA and a Sports Science & Coaching Masters Degree from Brunel University.
“In his role, the experienced coach and performance data analyst will work on the pitch and compile analytic data to provide information to improve an important part of the game.
“The Sporting Director of Mamelodi Sundowns, Flemming Berg welcomed Michael and said “we are very happy to have Michael and add his competencies to the experienced and highly qualified technical team.”
“Mamelodi Sundowns will travel to Cameroon for its second ground B Match against Coton Sport Garoua and Michael will travel with the team.”
Loftman, who also contributed as a columnist for iDiski Times earlier this season, recently had a short stint as Head Coach of Venda Football Academy and did previously work at Orlando Pirates between 2018 and 2020 as head coach of the Diski Challenge side and first-team performance analyst.
In addition, he was part of Carlos Queiroz’s technical team for Egypt, where he served as a performance analyst, and prior to that worked at the Belgian club, Lommel SK, which is part of the City Group.
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The highly-respected young coach, who has written a number of books, actually had his first head coach role in Africa at just 25, when he took charge of Lusaka Dynamos in Zambia.
Born in England, Loftman began coaching after completing school, and worked in the youth departments at clubs like Watford, Tottenham Hotspur and Dagenham & Redbridge, while completing his Masters and doing his UEFA A Licence.
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