Thembinkosi Lorch
Can the Orlando Pirates forward rediscover his old form and fire the Soweto side to trophies in the coming years?
Thembinkosi Lorch has become a household name since the Orlando Pirates star shot to fame after winning the 2018/19 PSL Footballer of the Season award and later having a song named in his honour by local artists Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa. But where did his journey begin and has he now passed the heights of his career? KICK OFF’s Chad Kelly-Klate delves into his past and learns what experts think of his future.
Thembinkosi Lorch shot to fame in recent years after making his mark in the black and white of the Buccaneers, with whom he has been plying his trade for the past threeand-a-half seasons.
It was only until two years ago, however, that ‘Nyoso’ showed his true potential by recording an impressive 15 goals and five assists in 40 games across all competitions for Pirates – later earning him the most sought-after individual accolade in the Premier Soccer League.
The 27-year-old is this season enjoying his fourth season with the Soweto giants, despite having signed for them nearly six years ago – a moment his former coach Morena Ramoreboli fondly recalls as he very nearly ended up at Ajax Cape Town (now known as Cape Town Spurs).
“What happened with Lorch is a very interesting story,” recalls Ramoreboli. “During the play-offs, when we were fighting for promotion to the National First Division with Maluti FET College, Lorch also attracted interest from Ajax Cape Town,” adds the coach, who is now part of the South Africa Under-20 technical team.
“What happened was that the Ajax scout, during the play-offs, asked, ‘Hey man, how possible is it for you guys to not play this boy in the final?’ I then said to him,
‘ This boy is ambitious, he will want to play in the final and if you guys are interested in him then follow the proper procedures and speak to the management’.
“After the play-offs, nothing happened but in his second season in the National First Division, they came again via Lorch’s agent to request he joins them for an assessment. They took two players from my team and, if I remember well, the coach was Roger de Sa but they didn’t see anything [worth investing in]. At the end of the 2014/15 season, Lorch signed with Pirates.”
Road to Bucs not plain sailing
Fate would have it that the Free Stateborn winger would end up at one of the oldest football institutions in the country, but it was not all smooth sailing.
From there, Lorch went on two separate loan spells – initially to Cape Town All
Stars for a full season in the second tier, before joining Chippa United for six months, from which he was recalled by coach Augusto Palacios.
“Honestly, we discussed that move to Pirates and I said to him, ‘If there’s an opportunity to grow as a player, who am I to say no to you? Going to a big club like Orlando Pirates, with your talent, you can succeed but we both know you will still need time to gain experience in that league so be very patient’,” warned his mentor.
“Before his first loan spell, I spoke to Bra Screamer [ Tshabalala] – because I was at African Warriors by then – and requested Lorch, but unfortunately I couldn’t get him and he went to Cape Town All Stars, where he met with Coach Dan [Malesela] and then followed him to Chippa United as well.
“As a coach, I think it was important for him to start somewhere before he could be a regular at Pirates, because I believe that so many things would have happened – he would have been frustrated at not getting some minutes to play at Pirates, but I think the loans he went on helped him to grow as a player.
“We did our part in terms of developing him for the top level but obviously he needed to adjust and adapt to the demands of that level, which I think he did very well. As a coach, you can only say that sometimes it is advisable to go on loan and make sure that you develop further.
“I think we can say that’s true for him too because, even though he was a player from Pirates, he never gave the club he joined on loan any opportunity to think that he was not prepared to go and play for them, because he worked hard and at the end of the day the aim was to go back and start playing for Pirates. I’m glad that he used that opportunity so well.”
The pair in fact go back even further, to when a then-18-year-old slender Lorch attended trials in the remote town of Ficksburg in the Free State on the border of neighbouring Lesotho, before Ramoreboli signed him up to join Maluti, who were then campaigning in the Vodacom League (now ABC Motsepe League).
“I met Thembinkosi, I think it was,
“THE LOANS HE WENT ON HELPED HIM TO GROW AS A PLAYER.”
in 2011. We were doing trials in Ficksburg because I would always go around the Free State to check for talent. So, on this particular occasion we had to go to Ficksburg and when we got there, we had planned to have trials for two days.
“On the first day, which was a Saturday, a few of the good players from that area, including Lorch, was not there because one of the local teams were playing to qualify for the Castle regional league play-offs.
“Fortunately, because we had a second day of trials the next day, that’s when I spotted him – I think it took us five minutes to realise, ‘Hey, hey, hey, this one is something else.’ Unfortunately, he didn’t have an ID at the time; the only thing he had was his birth certificate, so we took a gamble in taking him along with us. We then made the application for his ID in QwaQwa, where he moved to finish his schooling as well.
“We started coaching him to improve him and I think, honestly speaking, he hasn’t disappointed. I spoke to a couple of guys during our pre-season that very same year when we got him, saying, ‘You know, if this boy can’t break into the Premier League, it will be very sad for football, and something unusual to see a talent of this nature not progressing to the highest league’. I’m glad that he has been able to reach his dream.”
Battling to regain his old form
With such an incredible backstory, Lorch is another example that hard work and perseverance is the ultimate recipe for success, having reached the pinnacle of domestic football with Pirates while also establishing himself in the Bafana Bafana setup.
But ever since his 2018/19 feat of bagging the Footballer and Player’s Player of the Season gongs, he has battled to replicate that rich vein of form and some critics are even of the belief that he has regressed.
“I think there’s a couple of factors obviously for that [he has struggled to maintain his form] but the season after he won Footballer of the Season, there was talk about him moving overseas and I think that probably destabilised him a little bit,” says former Pirates and Bafana Bafana striker Katlego Mashego.
“I know him very well, but I wouldn’t know what he goes through when he’s alone or the support system he has. It’s not him alone, it’s also a South African thing where players who win the player of the season award, the next season they are nowhere to be seen.
“So, I think it’s also something to do with that consistency that we lack as South African or PSL players, but I believe he still has a chance to come back and do well for Pirates. He’s obviously a very important player for the club, so he’s got multiple chances to come back and be that same Lorch that won the Footballer of the Season award.
“IT TOOK US FIVE MINUTES TO REALISE,‘HEY, HEY, HEY, THIS ONE IS SOMETHING ELSE.”
“As long as he’s there and contributing to the team, and the team plays well when he’s in the line-up, I think he will recapture his form.”
Ramoreboli has also had a few words of advice that he shared with the Bucs attacker as he looks to return to his previous best, both for his club and national team.
“Again, I think we all know how these things are. On the issue of him going back to where he was in terms of performance, I think obviously when you have won something, they usually say champions don’t go around challenging people, but people challenge the champion,” defends Ramoreboli.
“So, obviously, anybody who faces Lorch brings their A-game – not only in South
Africa but in Africa, where
Pirates and Bafana Bafana are playing. Everybody now knows about Thembinkosi
Lorch, so what I have always
been telling him is, ‘ Try and avoid unnecessary pressure, play simple and if you can’t score then fight to create’.
“I think it’s just unfortunate that he has been out due to injuries [this season] but I think he has been doing a couple of things very well, and I’m glad that he’s also been getting man of the match awards, which simply means his performances are getting better.”
‘I wouldn’t advise him to go to Europe’
‘Mahoota’, as Mashego is known, meanwhile, has called on his former Chippa teammate to make better use of his refined ability to breach defences with more double-digit goal returns.
“I think the one thing I like about him is that he loves scoring goals, I know. So, if he can add that to his game, probably chip in with about 12-13 goals a season then that would be a huge improvement,” Mashego stresses.
“If he can do that consistently, season after season, I think that’s the one improvement that I would like to see him achieve. He needs to score more goals because in his position, he’s got ample chances to do that, he gets into good positions and he’s a good striker of the ball. So, if there’s an improvement I would like to see in him, it’s scoring more goals.”
As for Lorch’s ambitions to move abroad, Mashego is of the view that it may be a little too late to try and break into a different market and making history with Pirates over the next few years could be his best bet at leaving a lasting legacy.
“He still has a chance, he’s not that old. He’s a speedy, skilful player, so he still has a lot of years in his legs, and he can improve from here. He can be a better player at 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 – I mean, I moved to Sundowns at 32 or 33, so it’s something that is doable.
“But I would think that European move now at his age, where is he going to go? Belgium? I mean, that’s basically just the same league as the PSL. If it’s that then it would be just for the experience, but I wouldn’t advise him to go there.
“He can improve Pirates now and put them on the map, dream big – fight for the league, become champions every season – those are the things he can look forward to because he’s still 27 and he’s still one of the best players we have in the PSL.”
And the Bafana Bafana coach, Molefi Ntseki, retains belief in the Orlando Pirates marksman.
“I think he had it tough because success on its own becomes a burden. There is so much pressure everybody will put on you that you end up putting pressure on yourself, and I think that’s what happened with him,” said Ntseki.
“Lately, he’s come back, and you can see that he’s getting his confidence back; the work rate is there, and you can see the intelligence and ability to help the team.
“The injuries haven’t helped, of course, but we’ve also seen him come back and play as a false striker and doing very well. He has the intelligence, work ethic and the right attitude.
“He was considered for the Bafana team [to face Ghana and Sudan] but unfortunately he got that groin injury, and I spoke to him about his recovery.
“But I think we should always appreciate talent and always have a way of looking after that talent, so that the talent can manage itself.
“It was very important for him to learn how to manage his talent, after getting so much success and attention, which also comes with pressure, scrutiny and expectation.
“I think with the lessons of what happened after he was Footballer of the Season, he has learnt from that and hopefully he will be ready and available for the next selection.”
“HE CAN IMPROVE PIRATES NOW AND PUT THEM ON THE MAP, DREAM BIG – FIGHT FOR THE LEAGUE, BECOME CHAMPIONS EVERY SEASON.”