AmaZulu head coach Romain Folz was clear that there won’t be a special plan for Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo, and any other Orlando Pirates so-called key players, when the two clubs meet in the MTN8 final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium today.
Ndlondlo, who joined the Buccaneers on the last day of the PSL transfer window last month, has been influential in the club’s latest form, including the journey to the MTN8 final. After joining the Soweto giants, many expected the maestro to come from deep, but it seems like the Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, prefers him behind the forwards, especially in the presence of Miguel Timm, who takes care of the defensive midfield duties.
‘Fohloza’ admitted they are aware of the individuals who can hurt them, but still insisted they will handle Pirates as a collective.
“I’m not targeting anyone in particular, in a sense that as much as you are aware of the few individuals that they have in their team that are capable to make differences, you have to be able to control them collectively,” Folz told the media in the pre-match press conference.
“So, it’s a matter of knowing the specificity of the player, and try to make sure that the ones in the offensive department are [as] ineffective as possible.”
Ndlondlo and Folz worked together during the 32-year-old’s stint at Marumo Gallants in the early stages of the current season. The Frenchman went on to claim that he also knows the other Bucs players, even though he hasn’t worked with them.
“When it comes to that player in particular [Ndlondlo], I had a chance to know him [at Marumo Gallants] a little bit more, I’ll tell you that my knowledge of the other players, even though I haven’t worked with them is good as well,” he added.
“So, we’ll do our best to try to be good as tactically as possible and effectively as possible, to reduce the margin of expression for some of their players, and try to make sure that the margin of expression of our guys is as large as possible.
“It’s gonna take a collective effort to make sure that we can have a good performance.”
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