Allan Freese’s Wydad Athletic Club appointment explained

SABC Sport reported in July that the 68-year-old was on his way to Morocco to begin yet another fresh chapter in his career. 

Mokwena, speaking to the SA Football Journalists’ Association this week, suggested he needed Freese’s know-how to navigate through North Africa. 

"You've seen it with Eric ten Hag at Man United, he had someone more senior and more experienced than him, and Coach Allan Freese is no stranger to football – I think he's had incredible success, not only as a player but also as a coach," said Mokwena.

"I had the privilege and honour of working with him in my early days as a coach, way back at Silver Stars – and just the other day we were speaking about our experiences and memories.

"So when the opportunity arose, I thought to myself, sometimes when you are a little bit younger, you need a little bit more experience around you, and Coach Allan comes with an incredible pedigree, and he's won a lot of trophies.

"So you need that, you need people who know how to win, but also people who've worked with players that are up and coming because, when I looked at the project, I looked at the work we have to do, and he fitted the bill very well."

The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach is believed to have also shortlisted Cape Town Spurs counterpart Ernst Middendorp for the role, but ultimately it was Freese who was immediately available to relocate to Morocco. 

"There were a couple of other considerations and people that I thought about, of course it was not that easy to bring them on board, and I was just very humbled that Coach Allan was ready to accept the possibility of coming to join us on a very difficult project," he concluded.

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