Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi has to work on his effectiveness in the final third to become more lethal, according to former Kaizer Chiefs winger Junior Khanye.
The former SuperSpot United player has been growing from strength to strength, and some stakeholders claim he is Themba Zwane's replacement at Bafana Bafana.
Currently, the attacking midfielder is with the South Africa national team that is preparing to play Uganda Cranes in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday, September 6 before making a trip to play South Sudan four days later.
‘Tito will be a problem'
Khanye, like other South Africans, is convinced the Buccaneers' midfielder has special qualities but has to work on some areas to deliver more, especially for the national team. He based his argument on Bucs' recent MTN8 game against Cape Town City which they won 3-1 in aggregate to make the final.
“Internationally, Tito is going to be a problem,” the vocal analyst opened up in a recent interview with iDiski Times.
“I like him, he is talented, make no mistake, one of best talents, he knows football. But he must fix his positioning.
“You can’t drop too much, especially when the game is open. When Pirates were leading 1-0 the game was open. He was dropping and I have no problems with Tito. I love him, but he must fix it and that when he does this thing [dribbling], he must do it in the opponent’s half,” Khanye added.
Maswanganyi advised on positioning
Against Cranes, Maswanganyi might be given some minutes after failing to get some time in the last two games against Nigeria and Zimbabwe respectively. Khanye has now used the recent outing to advise the 26-year-old.
“He dropped too much, and I would like to see him running behind the defence. He knows football but he can’t only play when he has the ball on his feet,” he stated.
“He has to play off the ball as well, sometimes even run behind [Tshegofatso] Mabasa so that there is a third-man run to confuse opponents.”
