Pirates coach happy with Lepasa but still wants more

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has revealed that Zakhele Lepasa will be one of the best strikers in the country in the next few months, when he has learnt to be a little less focused on getting himself onto the score sheet and understands that he sometimes has to be a provider for others.

READ MORE: Clinical Pirates put Chiefs to the sword to book spot in MTN8 final

Lepasa was one of the Pirates players who were a thorn on Kaizer Chiefs’ side as they beat them 2-0 in the second leg of the MTN8 semifinals on Sunday afternoon.

But the 23-year-old was sometimes a little over-zealous and wanted to get on the scoresheet when he could have passed the ball to a teammate better positioned to score.

Zinnbauer, however, believes these are rookie mistakes and that he will learn from them and become a better player.

Asked how Lepasa helps in the absence of last season’s club and league top goal scorer Gabadinho Mhango, Zinnbauer said it makes for a healthy competition. Mhango is out with an injury.

“I am happy that I have Lepasa, and (Tshegofatso) Mabasa and I am happy when a striker comes on and works. You saw Lepasa today work against (without) the ball, it was unbelievable,” he said.

“(But) He sometimes wants to do too much and when he gets a little bit more calm and focused on assisting (instead of wanting to score himself) and working for the team I think we will get a good player from him in the next days, months… he needs a little time.

“But he works very hard for the team. With a little luck he could have scored today as well. But that is not always important (that he scores) what’s important is that he also assists,” explained the German mentor.

Zinnbauer said he was happy he would have more attacking options when they resume after the Fifa break as Mabasa will be fully fit by then.

“We now have Mabasa back training with the team, he is close to playing again, and I am happy about this. We have about two weeks to our next game and he needs some time but I am happy when we have more options on the bench.”