Lucky Lekgwathi believes that Orlando Pirates had depth this season however thinks the situation with Monnapule Saleng put a spanner in the works.
Saleng and the club have endured a long-running saga with the winger having last played six months ago allegedly issues stemming from a dispute over wages with the club. The player has missed a chunk of the season including the CAF Champions league campaign.
Lekgwathi spoke to iDiski Times writer Lethabo Kganyago in edition 205 of the newspaper where he said he feels the squad was balanced in almost all the positions to go the whole nine yards, however the treble-winning defender feels that if there wasn’t the situation with Saleng, Pirates would have achieved much more.
“I think we have depth in the squad,” Lekgwathi told iDiski Times.
“In previous seasons, I have complained about the number of players in each position, but now you can see it. For example, the defenders, Tapelo [Xoki] came in, he did good, when he’s out [Nkosinathi] Sibisi is there, and now [Mbekezeli] Mbokazi is bossing the backline, and we still have the likes of [Olisa] Ndah and [Innocent] Maela on the bench. I think there is competition and a healthy one at that in all the positions.
“The danger of having too many players in the team even the coach won’t be able to focus. The only thing I think almost ruined things was the [Monnapule] Saleng matter. If we didn’t have that issue, I think we’d be talking a different story because you’d know we have depth on the left and on the right.
“Right now, if [Mohau] Nkota isn’t playing, I don’t know who is supposed to be in that position.”
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