Orlando Pirates No. 10 battle welcomed as Sipho Mbule, Relebohile Mofokeng & Patrick Maswanganyi tipped to give Bucs edge in PSL and Nedbank Cup races

After elimination from the CAF Champions League, Orlando Pirates were forced to focus only on domestic titles.

The Sea Robbers have already lifted two, the MTN8 and the Carling Knockout trophies, as their eyes are firmly on the Premier Soccer League and the Nedbank Cup.

To succeed on multiple fronts, head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou will need to have all his players ready and fit because this will give him a deep pool of selection.

When Mbule was signed from Mamelodi Sundowns, the midfielder added competition to a position that Patrick Maswanganyi had established himself as a top choice.

Relebohile Mofokeng, who can play in various positions in the attacking department, has recently been utilised as a playmaker, a switch that has paid dividends for Pirates in recent matches.

The arrival of Andre De Jong has added another layer of competition for this crucial space.

Bucs' legend, Benedict Vilakazi, has welcomed the battle for No. 10, as he argued that it will incredibly help Pirates in their chase of two more trophies in the season.

“Let me tell you this: everyone in that team who can play that position is on their toes. You talk about Mofokeng; he scored two goals in the past two games," Vilakazi told Omniaudioafrica podcast.

“You talk about De Jong; he scored a penalty. And you have Tito [Maswanganyi]; he scored with the one-two with [Yanela] Mbuthuma. You talk about Mbule; he scored. So all of these four players are on their toes. 

So you have very healthy competition and team spirit. Everyone who gets that opportunity wants to grab it with both hands.

“For me, it will always give the team an edge. If you wake up in the morning with the decision to play Tito, you know he will score. You make Wake up and play Mofokeng, and he will create and score. De Jong will create and score; Mbule can do that. That is very, very good," the retired midfielder argued.

The former Bafana Bafana star hailed Bucs coach and said the Moroccan has helped the Soweto giants with something they lacked: competitive playmakers.

“Especially in this second-round phase of the season. There’s the Nedbank Cup, and the league is a marathon. So you need everyone to be at their best, especially during this period of the season," Tso, as Vilakazi is popularly known, continued.

“It is a very crucial period in terms of who is going to win the league. If you have all your number 10s on the song now, it makes life easier for you. 

"Coach Ouaddou has just brought something that was missing for a long time. You have very, very good players in that position of number 10. They can create, and they can score," he concluded.

As Pirates' playmakers compete at the club level, each hopes to be better than his rivals and ultimately get a World Cup spot.

Although it might appear a positive development for Ouaddou, who has perfected a rotational policy, for Hugo Broos, it will present a serious selection headache.

The rise of Mofokeng as an effective playmaker might spell doom for both Maswanganyi and Mbule as Broos continues to look for a long-term replacement for ageing and injury-prone Themba Zwane.