Category Archives: Orlando Pirates

Match Highlights: Josef Zinnbauer’s Orlando Pirates Fail To Score Enough Goals – Again

Orlando Pirates have found it difficult to score goals lately. Their lack of goal scoring began at the tail end of last season and bled to the beginning of the new season. Coach Zinnbauer has changed the combinations for his Orlando Pirates team but they still don’t seem to have the cutting edge. Orlando Pirates have signed quality players in the transfer window and the pressure will be on the German coach to produce some form of silverware this season.

 

 

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Orlando Pirates’ Reliance On Gabadinho Mhango Has Been Exposed

Since his brace against Chippa United in February, Orlando Pirates’ leading goal-scorer Gabandinho Mhango has been on a bit a goal drought.

It’s been six games since the game against Chippa. Orlando Pirates have only managed to win one and score once in those half a dozen matches.

I don’t know about you but I a pattern here. It seems as though there is a correlation between Gabandinho Mhango lack of goal production and Orlando Pirates’ unsatisfactory performances.

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer recons Mhongo’s dry spell is due to confidence or fatigue

“He scored a lot of goals in the first games, and now [against Wits] he had one of the best chances but it was not so [that he could score].

“As a striker, when he doesn’t think about anything, he scores, and now maybe he thinks a little bit too much that he wants [to score].


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“You know as a striker you need the self-confidence and you need the trust from the coach‚” 

“And it’s not so easy too that we have a good striker or two on the bench.

“We have not a long time [before the next game] and we have to see what’s possible in the next game – maybe he needs a break or he needs the next game but I don’t know, we’ll [figure out] a plan for the next game.”

Gabandinho Mhango tops the leagues’ scoring charts with 14 goals. At Orlando Pirates, he is trailed by an out of favour Tshegofatso Mabaso who has scored six. His goals have become increasingly important to Pirates. I’m surprised his coach would even think of resting him in a team that has scored 0 goals in their last four.

Every coach would love to have a forward that could score 15 goals in a season. But, this becomes an issue when the forward is relied upon a bit too much. The last time I check you need more that 15 goals to win the league.

Mhango is carrying Orlando Pirates’ goalscoring load and clearly, it has become too much. Pirates midfielders offer no goal-scoring threat. Other Pirates attackers like Pule and Memela are more goal creators than goalscorers. Mhango needs help and Zinnbauer needs to provide it.

By @cheezfootball (the greatest footy journo on the internet)

6 Questions About The Restart Of The PSL Championship Race

Remember the PSL? Well, it’s back. I answer 6 questions about the restart, including who has the most pressure to win the PSL championship and many more.

1. Who is the team with momentum?

Mamelodi Sundowns.

It’s difficult to talk about momentum because no team has played a competitive football match for four and a half months. Going into the lockdown Sundowns had won four of their five league games.

2. Which team has benefited from the break?

Kaizer Chiefs.

Amakhosi went it to the lockdown on a run of two wins, two losses, and one draw in their last five PSL games – that isn’t championship-winning form.

Four and a half months is a long time. This feels like a new season. The time will surely rejuvenate Ernst Middendorp’s team to refocus. 

3. Who will Kaizer Chiefs replace Maluleka with?

Kearyn Baccus is a decent player. He is actually pretty good but injuries kept him out for much of the season. Baccus might not have Maluleka’s passing range but he makes up for it with his other attributes. 

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‘…it affected my form big-time…’ – Thembinkosi Lorch

Orlando Pirates star player Thembinkosi Lorch has opened up on why his form has dipped. I thought it may have been because he has played a lot of football between Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates. Or maybe because after winning almost every individual award last season, being hailed as Moses Lorch, and having a song named after him, he could be suffering from ‘I Am The Shit syndrome’. This sickness has effected a lot of players, from Jabu Pule to Teko Modise. He, however, points out the reason he isn’t at his best is because of something else:

“I think I’ve done my thing in Mzansi. I’ve won the player of the season, I went to AFCON, and even there I played well,” Lorch told KickOff.


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“But like I said before, I’m still hurt for not going overseas. The likes of Percy Tau left after becoming player of the season, a lot of players left… so I expected the same thing to happen to me.

“Even now I still feel the pain you know. Ja, I won’t hide it. You know that it affected my form big-time, because I saw myself playing overseas this season, and I was prepared to go and play overseas.

“It’s my dream to play overseas, but I still believe my dream will come true. It’s God who knows. I must just not give up. So I wish a right offer comes.”

Asked if he ever approached Pirates management regarding a possible move over seas, Lorch added: “Ja I did that, I talked to them. So they suggested we wait for a right offer. So I don’t know what kind of an offer is a right offer, but it did affect me big-time.

“Even now I still feel this pain in my heart you see, and I don’t think it’s something that is going to end soon.

“For now it still hurts you see, especially when I see the likes of [Marshall] Munetsi playing overseas [for Reims]. It really pains me.”

‘The right offer’

We’ve heard this term many times. Especially at Orlando Pirates. It seems as though, unlike Europe, where star players have a little bit of a say on their future (see: How Neymar bullied his way out of Barcelona) in South Africa the clubs hold all the power.

We’ve heard from players like Teko Modise lamenting Orlando Pirate’s refusal to let him take his talents overseas. Did Thembinkosi Lorch ask for buy out clauses before signing? Do these players and their agents find other ways to have their contracts more beneficial to them?

It appears as though our players aren’t willing to educate themselves on their contract and how they are structured. Orlando Pirates or any other PSL club are running a business. It may not be in their best interest to let go of their star players without a fair price. It’s the responsibility of the player to let their agents know what they want to be negotiated in their contract before they sign them.

Losing To Pirates Was The Worst Outcome For Mamelodi Sundowns

A strange thing happened yesterday. For the first time ever, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates supporters came together and supported the latter in their quest to (a.) not lose against Mamelodi Sundowns and (b.) preferably beat them. 

Mamelodi Sundowns came into the game nine points behind log leaders Kaizer Chiefs with a game in hand. A loss against Pirates would equal the number of matches played with Chiefs but the lead would stay intact. Downs went a goal down in the first half and never recovered. 

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[Highlights] Orlando Pirates Make Kaizer Chiefs Fans Happy For One Night Only | Absa Premiership 2019/2020

Last night for the first time in maybe history, Kaizer Chiefs supporters were on the side of Orlando Pirates when they met Mamelodi Sundowns. The Buccaneers beat The Brazilians at home for the first time since 2011

Seeing Pirates Play This Season Is Like Watching A Thriller Movie With Bad Acting

I’m what you call a movie buff. When I get spare time from getting high off tranquillizing drugs, getting drunk, or pretending like I’m working, I indulge myself with movies. The best films are those with (a) simple plot (b) action/drama (c) good acting. Last week I decided cancelled my Netflix subscription and simply wait for  Orlando Pirates games to get my fix of cinematic entertainment. Their matches have all I’m looking for in a good flick: (a) simple plot – they need to win (b) action/drama – own goals, good goals, goalkeeping mistakes etc. (c) good acting – this is where they fall short, their coach doesn’t have much of a personality and the team’s performances have been below standard. But, I’d take 2 out of 3 any day. 

Last night, Orlando Pirates came away 3-2 winners against Polokwane City. The game had it all: bad officiating, red cards, bogus penalties, missed sitters, good goals, and poking of the eyes. Everything you’d want from a football match. 

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Orlando Pirates’ First 40 minutes Was As Bad As The Officiating

Orlando Pirates scored an own goal, conceded another through a free header, and played like shit in the first 40 minutes of the Soweto derby. Whilst the referee Thando Ndzandzeka missed a red card, gave away a bogus free-kick that led to an Orlando Pirates goal, and was pretty much shite (with an ‘e’) too. 

Orlando Pirates’ First Half

As getting comfortable in my seat and taking the first sip of my ice-cold beer, Orlando Pirates conceded the first goal. An own goal. *facepalm* Ntsikelelo Nyauza and Wayne Sandilands got their wires crossed. The captain on the day headed the ball over the advancing goalkeeper with only 45 seconds on the clock. I’m as pessimistic an Orlando Pirates supporter as they come but even I didn’t expect that.

Rhulani Mokwena started the game with no recognizable center back. Happy Jele was suspended and he doesn’t seem to fancy Justice Chabalala or Alfred Ndengane. Kaizer Chiefs, as they always do, started the game with the attacking trio of Khama Billiat, Leonardo Castro and Samir Nurković. The latter duo aren’t the best technically but are excellent aerially, and height wasn’t something the Orlando Pirates back four was blessed with.

Around the 20th minute, a cross was played into the box from the right, Nurkovic leaped over right back Abel Mabaso for an effort towards goal but the ball went over the bar. That’s when I then turned to my girlfriend and said “Kaizer Chiefs are going to score their next goal with a header” Five minutes later my prophecy was fulfilled. Leonard Castro found himself free in the box and nodded the goal home from a corner. *bang my head against a wall*

Orlando Pirates were handed a lifeline when the referee gave them an undeserved free-kick in the 38th minute. Pule found the back of the net from a tight angle. Orlando Pirates were on the ascendancy from then on forward.

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Five Most Pressing Questions Going Into The Soweto Derby

The Soweto Derby was kind of an anticlimax after the World Cup final last weekend. It was always going to be difficult to eclipse the Springboks winning the World Cup. It sort of like having breakfast with your 22-year old girlfriend in the morning then a few hours later going grocery shopping at Pick n Pay with your wife.

This weekend the Soweto Derby doesn’t have those pesky Makhwaphenis to contend with, they have the Saturday all to themselves.

Every encounter between two of South Africa’s biggest clubs comes with a new set of questions. Who will replace Happy Jele? Will referees keep their wits about them? If Pirates lose, what nonsensical excuse will Rhulani Mokwena have after the game? The answers to these and a couple more questions will give us an idea of what to expect on Saturday afternoon. 

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Orlando Pirates Draw Again, How Long Till Mokwena Is Replaced?

“We like to make it difficult, my middle name is Mlungisi [meaning; the one who fixes], so I think sometimes the players try and test how much I can fix certain things, so it’s a test to see how difficult they can make things for me, but we keep going and we try to fix,” 

This is what Rhulani Mokwena told Supersport after his team’s draw with Mariztburg United last night. Every time I listen to Mokwena’s post-game interviews I’m always left asking myself “What the heck is this guy saying?” One thing I’m never confused about, though, is the pattern of each of them. They go like this 1. The interviewer asks a question 2. He takes a moment to think about it (with a defeated expression on his face) 3. He goes on a soliloquy that either had nothing to do with the game or doesn’t make sense.

Last night the Buccaneers drew for their fifth time to go along with their four losses in their 12 games under Rhulani Mokwena. There always seems to be something wrong with his teams. If they are not conceding goals by they are failing to score. 

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