Orlando Pirates coach Zinnbauer defends erratic Thulani Hlatshwayo

Thulani Hlatshwayo seems to be having quite a difficult time at Orlando Pirates, with a number of mistakes which have cost the club in the last couple of games, but Bucs coach Josef Zinnbauer has defended his skipper.

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The Bafana Bafana captain recently made a huge error which gifted Mamelodi Sundowns their second goal of the match in which Downs won 3-0 this past weekend after he couldn’t clear the ball at the back.

Hlatshwayo also made a blunder when Bucs played to a 1-1 draw with Swallows FC thanks to Hlatshwayo’s own-goal.
Zinnbauer believes the defender is just having bad games and that doesn’t mean he is a bad player.

“I don’t want to talk a lot about mistakes by my players, we do this internally. But I can say that it is always in a situation where players have bad times and good times. When we talk about the start of the season, he was very strong for us, he is a leader and he fights. At the moment, you can see he is a bit unlucky, but he played a lot of games without breaks, he is always on the field fighting. He is always training 100 percent, he goes forward, he leads the team.

“It is not so easy when we speak about a leader, when we speak about a captain. He is not alone on the field and after training sessions, he doesn’t say it’s finished for me, no. During training, before training and after training he has talks with the young players.

“He leads the guys, he gives them motivation and he gives the young players and others who have some problems, he gives them direction in the squad. He is everywhere and it’s not easy for us to say he can focus on himself. We need to give him a bit more time and maybe he can rest and recover. He is a big player and a national team player.”

Zinnbauer will be hoping the defender gets back to his best form with the club in the running for the Caf Confederation Cup after reaching the quarter-finals.

Hlatshwayo joined the Buccaneers at the beginning of the season having had superb seasons with former club Bidvest Wits.