Riveiro gives his thoughts on Pirates new signing Mbatha

As much as Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro doesn’t like to speak about individual performance, the Bucs head coach had to talk about the impact that midfielder Thalente Mbatha has made at the club.

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Riveiro is pleased with Mbatha’s, and another January transfer window signing Thabiso Lebitso’s contribution to the team so far.

It’s Mbatha who has caught the eye of many, with the midfielder making starts in his last two games for the Buccaneers, after arriving from SuperSport United on a six-month loan deal.

Mbatha got his first Man-of-the-Match for the Buccaneers against Cape Town Spurs – the Sea Robbers were held to a 1-1 draw by the Cape side in a DStv Premiership tie at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday.

Mbatha seems to have a good combination in midfield with Makhehleni Makhaula, with the pair having started the last two games together.

“I am glad for the new weapons in the team. You (media) should do the reflection of Thalente in the context of our environment,” said the Bucs coach after the game.

“He (Mbatha) played his first official game a few days ago, so we do our analysis, if he is in the starting eleven at Pirates, with the squad we have, it might be he’s doing something right during the week and we are seeing something (in training sessions).”

‘We are not giving opportunities for free’

Riveiro explained that it is not easy to make it into the starting line-up at Pirates, where there is plenty of talent within the squad. And whoever makes it into the starting line-up, is not by chance.

“We are not giving opportunities for free. Then other analysis must come from you (media),” he added.

“We do our own, but as I said, I like to talk about what we do as a collective not what every individual is achieving week by week. Because then we are talking about trends, I want to talk about the team.”

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Should Mbatha continue to impress the Bucs technical team at training, the SuperSport loanee might see himself starting again, when Pirates take on Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby at FNB Stadium on Saturday.