Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has revealed why red-hot striker Tshegofatso Mabasa was not used by the club when he first arrived in the country.
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Mabasa is currently enjoying arguably the best form of his life. A proven goal scorer, the 27-year-old’s goals often ebbs and flows, with inconsistent form and injuries hampering his progress.
But the striker appears to have been reborn since his return to the Buccaneers in January and has been banging in goals on a regular basis, which begs the question why he was not used by Pirates from the start of the season.
Addressing the media at the Nedbank Cup quarter final press conference, Pirates coach Riveiro explained that he had not overlooked the striker – but that Mabasa was not at the club upon his arrival.
“I have to tell the truth. When I arrived, Tshego was not with us. This is my first time with Tshego. We had eight number nines the first time I put my feet on the Pirates training ground and Tshego was not one of them. The reasons? I cannot tell you, but they are probably related to his performance for whatever reason. But in that moment, there were other players performing better. I cannot answer that question because I didn’t have that conversation with Tshego, I had a different one when he came back,” he told journalists.
“So, I don’t really know if he was in a different space or he asked for the loan because he wanted to be on the field more consistently and at Pirates at the time it was difficult, I don’t know.
“What I know is that he is back, he is performing at a good level. He’s helping us to play better, not only score goals. I don’t only look at our striker because he’s scoring goals or not. The goals are very welcome, obviously, but there’s a lot more things to do on the field before we score a goal.
“Hopefully he continues in the same space and in the same shape because it’s nice to see a player of his talent perform in this way – but the reasons why he couldn’t make it before, it’s a good question but to the wrong person,” he explained.
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