Bruce Ramokadi questions Thabo Matlaba’s midfield role for Orlando Pirates

Former Orlando Pirates striker Bruce Ramokadi has questioned why Thabo Matlaba is being played in midfield ahead of the natural players like Luvuyo Memela who can contribute both offensively and defensively.

“Modern football unfortunately needs everybody to come on board. If they can play Matlaba in midfield and put the natural midfielders on the bench, it is going to make it difficult for the rest of the team to score goals,” Ramokadi told Goal .

‘Festival’ is seen by Milutin Sredojevic as the South African version of German legend Phillp Lahm, but Ramokadi is not convinced with his offensive ability, saying he doesn’t help the team to score regularly.

“Before you put a player like Matlaba in midfield, questions should be asked if this guy can score regularly from midfield,” Ramokadi said.

As seen in modern football, every player is required to contribute goals from every angle of the field, and it should be no different in Matlaba’s case.

“If you are a coach, you gauge your players, like ‘if I put this player on the pitch, he needs to score on a regular basis. In modern soccer, every player that is on the pitch, must contribute goals. That’s what modern football is all about,” Ramokadi said.

Bucs has moulded  a lot of youngsters this season, as they look to face out the old guard that to a large extent failed to hit the ground running over the last three seasons.