Pirates coach defends ‘Tyson’ after blunders

Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo’s recent defensive blunders may have drawn widespread criticism from the Orlando Pirates fans but coach Josef Zinnbauer has moved swiftly to defend the Bafana Bafana captain after his latest howler against Mamelodi Sundowns.

Hlatshwayo was at fault for Sundowns’ second goal as Pirates were spanked 3-0 in a DStv Premiership clash in Orlando on Sunday.

Sundowns substitute and former Buccaneer Gift Motupa pick-pocketed the ball from the 31-year-old centre-back’s possession ‚ and the mistake led to Peter Shalulile doubling the lead for the champions.

“I don’t want to talk a lot about the mistakes that my players make‚ we talk about that internally‚ but I can say that always players have bad times and good times‚” the German coach said when asked to comment on Hlatshwayo’s recent shaky performances.

Hlatshwayo‚ who wore the captain’s armband in the absence of long-time skipper Happy Jele‚ came under fire from the Pirates fans after his astonishing own goal in the come-from-behind 1-1 draw against Swallows in their last league encounter last week.

The tough-tackling defender also received extensive condemnation the week before that after his error led to one of the goals as Sundowns thumped Pirates 4-1 in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals on April 15.

Hlatshwayo joined Pirates at the beginning of the season in a big money move from now defunct Bidvest Wits.

He looked to have won the hearts and souls of the Ghosts with solid performances in the first half of the season‚ but has now gone off the boil in the final stretch.

Zinnbauer has put that down to a congested fixture list.

“When we talked about him early in the season he was very strong for us.

“He is a leader and he fights for us,” the 51-year-old coach said.

“A mistake is a mistake. “He makes another goal and nobody talks about it. He is my captain and he is a leader.”

Pirates host bottom club Black Leopards in their next league match in Orlando tomorrow at 5pm.