orlando pirates

Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 Orlando Pirates Media Day at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg on the 13 January 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates: Here’s what Zinnbauer thinks of new striker Mundele

Zinnbauer has given his fair assessment of the Kinshasa-born marksman following his performance against Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana.

orlando pirates

Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 Orlando Pirates Media Day at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg on the 13 January 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer had all the good things to say about new striker Jean-Marc Mundele ahead of the team’s CAF Confederation Cup match against Jwaneng Galaxy on Sunday.

Mundele got the chance to feature in the first-leg in Botswana and scored a superb goal as Bucs cruised to a 3-0 win, and Zinnbauer admits the goal has undoubtedly boosted the marksman’s confidence.

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According to Zinnbauer, Mundele is slowly buying into the technical team’s philosophy, and he expects him to offer the club more in the coming weeks.

“He’s coming more with his conditioning‚ he’s coming more into the game model that we need,” Zinnbauer told the media.

“We have felt this before in the training sessions and he’s now given us the signal in the game. He had a good game.”

“For a striker to score is important. And I think‚ with a game on Sunday‚ we have to see now what’s happened in the squad,” he said.

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The German mentor agrees that goals are what every striker needs to become better and better, adding that Mundele has an outside chance of starting against Jwaneng in the return leg.

Zinnbauer also didn’t rule out the possibility of giving Mundele an opportunity to shine in the remaining matches of the season.

“A striker needs goals. He can play better if he scores goals. He scored‚ and he’s given himself more self-confidence on the field,” Zinnbauer continued.

“And yeah‚ maybe he has a chance on Sunday. The next chance may be from the bench or the starting line-up.

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He added: “We are open for this. We have researched in this week exactly which player is ready for Sunday’s game.

“And then these players who get to play‚ if they give a good performance, they have a chance they can play in the next weeks,” he concluded.

The return leg between Bucs and Jwaneng at Orlando Stadium is scheduled for 5PM SA time.