Mamelodi Sundowns' struggles without midfield kingpin Themba Zwane on the pitch does not deter Manqoba Mngqithi one bit, as confirmed by the head coach himself when recently addressing the curious situation.
Zwane starting from the bench since the beginning of the season under Mngqithi has drawn criticism from supporters, who feel his influence cannot be understated, despite the fact he is 35.
Sundowns have actually struggled more without the Bafana Bafana international on the pitch than when he is on the bench.
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Although the side lost the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final against Stellenbosch FC with 'Mshishi starting, in the other two matches, they, arguably, could not have won were it not for his influence off the bench.
Against Polokwane City in the quarter-finals, with the game deadlocked, Zwane's introduction on the hour-mark changed the game completely, where the Tshwane giants went on to win in extra-time.
His presence was also immediately felt in the Betway Premiership opener against cross-town rivals SuperSport United, where they scored two goals - with one from his assist - just four minutes after he got onto the field, off the bench.
The other game the Tembisa-born star came off the bench was in the last 17 minutes, where he could not influence a 1-0 loss to Stellies in the second leg of the semi-final.
Following conspiracy theories going around, Mngqithi has made his stance clear that he is merely managing the decorated player, given his age, and that he will not be dictated by popular opinion despite Zwane clearly always making an impact whenever brought on off the bench.
"I don't think there's a problem, because we have to periodize our most important players. We have six competitions to play in and it is very important to make sure that we don't burn our 34-year-old [35] very early in the season," he told reporters in his post-match conference, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
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"It's very important and it is something that is going to continue to happen up until maybe you start to look at it as a problem, but there is no problem.
"He understands how many games we're going to play this season and if we go for 90 minutes with Themba every match, at 34, how far will he go in the season? For me, in our periodization, it's very important to make sure that we take care of Sundowns, not your wishes and aspirations but Sundowns."