OPINION: Mpisane’s limitations as a footballer have been exposed

Andile Mpisane has bucked the old idiom that you can’t have your cake and eat it. Millions of ordinary South Africans would die to be in his shoes. He’s a musician, social media influencer and chairman of Betway Premiership club Royal AM.

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What it is becoming increasingly clear Mpisane is not, however, is a professional footballer.

Mpisane is talented – at music

I think he’s talented enough to make it as a musician but football is a different kettle of fish. Sporting the popular jersey number 10, Mpisane started Thwihli Thwahla’s last two league games against Cape Town City and SuperSport United.

His limitations on the football pitch were exposed for everyone to see in both matches. I feel sorry for Royal AM coach John Maduka, who has had to face the music from journalists over the selection of Mpisane. The coach is doing a decent job in trying to convince everyone that his chairman is a talented footballer.

The 23-year-old mirrors a common story of a young township boy from a rich family who can’t play football to save his life, but his less fortunate friends have no choice but to rope him into the team in order to utilise his resources.

Mpisane’s teammates pass him by

What’s even more comical in Mpisane’s case is that his own teammates, who double up as his employees, don’t even trust his abilities as a footballer and hardly pass the ball to him. I noticed that Thabo Matlaba was passing the ball to Mpisane during the game against Matsatsantsa a Pitori, and unsurprisingly, his boss conceded possession each time each time he received it.

Having the Gqom hit-maker in the team is a liability. It’s like playing with a man short and I wasn’t surprised to see him being substituted in both games, but what puzzled me is how long he lasted on the field.

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City targeted the space Mpisane occupied and they pierced through the middle for their opening goal after the chairman was dragged out of position. Maduka was lucky to draw both games but it’s only a matter of time before the effects of having the popular entertainer in the starting XI comes back to bite him and his team.