Zinnbauer explains Makusu’s exclusion in Pirates line-up
“We had a good performance with Lorch in the last game, he also had chances to score. And Jean-Marc hasn’t been here for a long time," said the Pirates coach.
Jozef Zinnbauer knows how tough the Confed Cup group stages could be. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
In Orlando Pirates last two games, Jean-Marc Makusu has been the only available striker in the Pirates squad but hasn’t been able to make it into the Pirates’ line-up.
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Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has opted to play winger Thembinkosi Lorch upfront, with the German stating that Lorch has been doing well for the club playing as a leading attacker.
With Makusu the only striker available for selection while Gabadinho Mhango, Zakhele Lepasa, Terrence Dzukamanja and Tsheogatso Mabasa are nursing injuries, one would have expected to see the Congolese breaking into the line-up.
But Zinnbauer says the reasons Makusu is not playing yet has to do with the player still working on adjusting to the system at the club, and that they will keep on giving him minutes in the games to get used to the system at the club.
“We had a good performance with Lorch in the last game, he also had chances to score. And Jean-Marc hasn’t been here for a long time. He has been working on conditioning, on the system and it’s not easy for him to come in. But he will get more time, we have to improve him,” said the Pirates mentor. “It’s important for us to give him minutes. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next game we have to see what happens with other players (returning from injuries).”
The Bucs coach added that once his strikers recover from their injuries, they might resort to playing with two strikers.
“Maybe when the strikers come back we can play with two strikers. It’s important for us to get the right system and like I said, we’ve had top opportunities to score, maybe in the next games (we will use the goal scoring opportunities). I’m happy about all players scoring, especially strikers. I … want my strikers on the field and they have to score.”
Makusu was signed last year from AS Vita. The 28-year old striker has a lot of experience having played in Algeria, Belgium and Egypt.
But Makusu will have to bid for his time at the Buccaneers or maybe he might make the squad when Pirates take on Kaizer Chiefs over the weekend.
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