Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has sought to explain why Nkosingiphile Ngcobo was benched after two impressive displays upon his return to the starting line-up.
Ngcobo made just two starts in the first 13 games of the 2021/22 DStv Premiership campaign but returned to the starting line-up after their Covid-19 outbreak in the squad which saw them fail to honour two fixtures.
And it appeared to be a blessing in disguise as the academy graduate netted a spectacular goal and supplied an assist upon his return in the 2-0 win over Sekhukhune United last week.
But Zwane revealed he’s the type of player that can only be used sporadically due to his fitness levels and style of play in their current tactical system, alluding to his super-sub role against Maritzburg United on Wednesday.
“A player of Nkosingiphile Ngcobo’s calibre… it depends when you use him and the approach of the opposition, is to when do you need him in the game,” he said after the 2-0 win over Maritzburg.
“He’s not a player that can fight for the ball, he [doesn’t] have that energy to fight for the ball. But he’s more of a playmaker. But as you can see, when we needed him, he came to the party, he was the one who gave us that security goal.
“He’s a player that can swing the game in your favour because he’s got game intelligence, he’s a very smart player. Knowing that we’ve used him in the past two games.
“He played 70 minutes against Royal AM, so we knew that for this game if we had to start him he wasn’t going to be that effective. So we started him on the bench, so he can be one of our impact players.”
The talented playmaker has scored five goals and registered three assists in 52 games since being promoted to the senior team.
