THE BACKPAGE phakaaathi.co.za ‘Mlambo our Alonso’
SREDOJEVIC: WE ARE PLEASED AND PRIVILEGED TO HAVE HIM AT PIRATES
Bucs coach sees great things ahead for his new signing.
Orlando Pirates coach Micho Sredojevic has likened new recruit Xola Mlambo to former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Mlambo joined the Buccaneers from Bidvest Wits in the January transfer window and with only a couple of appearances in Bucs colours, Sredojevic believes the Dobsonville-born player is a great asset to the team.
“I regard him as the Xabi Alonso of South African football, each pass comes with great thinking from his head,” said Sredojevic.
“We believe we have brought a player who will add a lot of value to the team. He has a good tactical ability, which I call press resistance. He can control the ball under pressure, win the ball and play it through traffic. We see a huge space for him to improve. We are pleased and privileged to have him.”
Mlambo came on in the second half for the Buccaneers on Saturday, replacing Diamond Thopola as Pirates sailed through to the last-16 of the Nedbank Cup by beating Ajax Cape Town 2-0 at Orlando Stadium.
The win was sweet revenge for the Soweto giants having lost to the same side in a league clash two weeks ago. Going into this match, Micho made six changes and says he took a risk to destabilise the consistency of the team, but it worked out in the end.
“Whenever in football you play more than three players different from the last match, you lose the complexion and the continuity of the consistency of the team. So we took a risk and we benefited,” the Bucs coach added.
“We have benefited from having two players fighting for each position and there is no comfort zone in either position. We want to lift the quality of the performance and quality of the result – that is what is driving us.”