‘Confidence will come back’: Sebola offers advice to Pirates’ under-pressure Mbuthuma

Former Orlando Pirates striker Andries Sebola has advised misfiring forward Yanele Mbuthuma not to be discouraged by his lack of scoring, saying goals will come.

Mbuthuma has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks as he struggled to find the back of the net in consecutive matches this season.

Sebola said although Mbuthuma’s confidence is down, he believes once he starts scoring, he will get his mojo back.

“He must know his players that are playing around him first. If he can know how [Tshepang] Moremi, [Oswin] Appollis and [Patrick] Maswanganyi [play], their strengths and weaknesses, then he can position himself well inside the box,” Sebola told Sowetan.

He needs somebody who can talk to him, especially [in] the technical team, to give him confidence—  Andries Sebola, former Orlando Pirates striker

“Yes, it is true he is missing chances, his confidence is down, even though the coach is giving him more time to play — but the only advice I can give him is that he must work on his finishing at training.

“He needs somebody who can talk to him, especially [in] the technical team, to give him confidence.

“If the supporters are against you, it’s difficult for you to score goals, like he used to at Richards Bay. Pirates are a big team. If he doesn’t pick up his form and score goals, I think they will put him on transfer.”

With some continuing to criticise him, Sebola said Mbuthuma must not focus on what they say as this will make things worse, but rather focus on putting in the hard yards to end his scoring drought.

“He must forget about the supporters. They are there to cheer the players but against you if you are not doing well, because they are spending a lot of money to come to the stadium, so they need results and they want to see the players performing. But he must just focus on his game and forget about the supporters.

“In his last game against Chippa United, he was even afraid to receive the ball, even the passes. It was disappointing for him after he missed the chance in the first half.

“The confidence will be back if he can score one goal — and when he does that, he must not go and shout to the supporters because they have a right to say whatever they want.”

Pirates visit Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 semifinal first leg at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday at 3pm, where Mbuthuma will be desperate to end his scoring drought.