Pirates legend speaks on Mbuthuma

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Orlando Pirates striker, Yanela Mbuthuma. Photo: Gallo Images

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Pirates legend speaks on Mbuthuma

Aug 14, 2026 – 02:46 pm
By Sipho Mlotha

Orlando Pirates legend Lawrence “Killer” Maake has thrown his weight behind under-pressure striker Yanela Mbuthuma, urging the forward to take the growing criticism from the club’s supporters in a positive light.

While some Bucs fans have praised Mbuthuma’s work rate, positioning and off-the-ball intelligence, many are growing frustrated with his wastefulness in front of goal, with a lack of composure appearing to be the main culprit.

Maake, who knows a thing or two about finding the back of the net, believes the striker’s issues are fixable and insists he still has faith in the forward’s ability.

“I’m still confident in Mbuthuma; he just needs to learn how to use space,” Maake told KickOff.

“We don’t have to compare him to Evidence Makgopa, a direct centre forward that runs into defenders, and he knows how to free himself; that’s why defenders find it hard to deal with him.

But Mbuthuma is more of a typical striker; he spends a lot of time directly in line with the poles, so it’s easy for the centre-backs to close his space.

But that gives him an advantage because he is always closer to the box, so he is always available for the chances that are created by his teammates. He is just not smart enough to use his space.”

The Pirates legend further explained that Mbuthuma’s presence in the danger zone makes him a handful for defenders, but identified a key area where the striker needs to develop his game.

“He is a menace to defenders, Mbuthuma, because he is always present in the danger zone. But he doesn’t know how to create space between himself and the defenders.

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But I see the coach still has confidence in him, as I do. If I were the Pirates technical team, I would be focusing on teaching him how to free himself from a defender,” Maake added.

Maake concluded with a word of advice for the 24-year-old, encouraging him to use the supporters’ frustration as fuel to rediscover his scoring touch.

“It’s a challenging time for a player when you are criticized by your own supporters, but at the same time you need to understand that they are criticizing you because there is something you are not doing right.

His job is to score goals. So Mbuthuma should understand that they are doing this to spur him on.”

The Bucs face Chippa United at Kings Park Stadium on Sunday at 15:00.