Hlatshwayo: Why I Haven’t Lived Up To Expectation At Pirates…

One year on and Orlando Pirates defender Thulani Hlatshwayo has opened up on the challenges he has faced since joining the Buccaneers last season.

 

One year on and Orlando Pirates defender Thulani Hlatshwayo has opened up on the challenges he has faced since joining the Buccaneers last season.

There was high hopes for the 31-year-old when he joined the Buccaneers. Not only was he the national team captain at the time, but his was a courtship that had stretched on for years, so his transition was meant to be hand-in-glove with the club.

However, it hasn’t quite lived up to expectations so far.

Despite leading the club to its first domestic cup in years, Tyson has largely dished out underwhelming performances in the black and white, far from the assured defender fans have grown to love over the years.

By his own admission, the former Bidvest Wits skipper admits that he hasn’t lived up to expectations since making the switch to Pirates a year ago, and he has now provided the reason for his slow start.

“No. No, I haven’t [lived up to expectations]” Tyson tells press.

“There’s a lot of factors in it. I know the kind of style that I play. I spent six years at Wits and things were done differently. Compared to Orlando Pirates, things are done differently. It took me a while to really adjust and it’s so evident. I played for a team that was direct before, and I did well for that direct team. It suited me. It was my style. Adjusting to building up from the back, playing, move­ments, roles are dif­ferent. So that would be the answer to the ‘why’.

“When we look back, Pirates have always wanted me to join the team and the expecta­tions were always there, based on my performance at Wits. Coming here, I knew that it was not going to be easy. I knew that I had to learn every day. I had to learn the culture, the per­sonalities and characters in the team. So, it was a mixture of every­thing. And at the time you are try­ing to learn, there are games that need to be played. You try to rectify the mistakes and the coaches believe in you and they are being supportive towards you to really come back and to display the perform­ance they know I am capable of,” he explained.