Danny Phiri of Lamontville Golden Arrows puts pressure on Lebogang Manyama of Kaizer Chiefs FC during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 game between Golden Arrows and Kaizer Chiefs at Moses Mabhida Stadium. (Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix)
The former Barcelona striker is one of Manyama’s biggest supporters having shared a dressing room with him at Turkish side Konyaspor.
Having failed to be a permanent member of the starting line-up and returning home to join Amakhosi, Manyama looked the shadow of his former self, but Eto’o still believed that the Bafana Bafana forward is a special player and that he was not given enough chances to show his worth at Konyaspor.
The midfielder is now conducting coach Ernst Middendorp’s choir and has helped them remain at the summit of the Absa Premiership standings.
There has never been any doubt regarding Manyama’s talent but injuries made it difficult for him to finish a season or perform consistently for most of the teams he has played for.
In his first season at Chiefs Manyama was involved in a car accident just as he was finding his feet and delivering for then coach Giovanni Solinas. Which takes us back to the bizarre toe injury he suffered at Mpumalanga Black Aces where he was coached by the hot-headed Muhsin Ertugral.
However this season Manyama has managed to avoid injuries that could rule him out of action and seems to have found his rhythm in his second season at Chiefs.
Overall, everything seems to be going well for Chiefs, the football Gods are smiling at them and the star players are escaping injuries the same way the Amakhosi escaped a draw against Golden Arrows this past weekend.
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