Former Orlando Pirates winger Lebohang Mokoena does not believe Monnapule Saleng will be a success at Orbit College following his loan move to his boyhood club.
Saleng ended his Pirates nightmare, when he signed a season-long loan deal with the newly-promoted side, as he bids to revive his career after being frozen out of the Pirates squad for reasons yet to be revealed last season.
The winger had started the season well but by November he was nowhere to be seen with a number of reasons given over his absence, one among them being a claim that he was unhappy with his contract.
However, Mokoena insists the player’s poor attitude is what led to the fallout and he should be grateful that he has been offered a chance to redeem himself.
Mokoena slams winger’s poor attitude
“I have seen that face before where coach [Jose] Riveiro at halftime asked him; ‘Saleng, are you okay?’ and he nods his head, I have seen that at Swallows and we tried to address that with Vuyo Mere and Virgil Vries that, that is the attitude you don’t need especially if you are going to a team like Orlando Pirates,” Mokoena said on SoccerBeat.
“Then he got to Pirates, did the same thing and I am just worried that now, with where he is heading to, Orbit [College], yes, it is home but the opportunities are not the same as at Orlando Pirates. At Orlando Pirates, one, two games a player like Saleng you are in the Bafana team.”
Even with Saleng promising to silence his critics, Mokoena doubts that he will hit the ground running at Orbit as he foresees a number of challenges for the left-footed winger that will make it tough to shine like he did at Pirates.
“He is saying now that he will be doing the talking on the field of play and we have been saying this for the longest time,” added Mokoena, popularly known as Cheezboy.
Why does ‘Cheezboy’ think Saleng will struggle?
“He is now going to a team that just got promoted, they are not going to be the best team in the league. They will be trying to survive, the team might be playing more defensively, which is a contrast to the way he likes to play.
“[At Pirates] You have a player like Rele [Mofokeng] who can pick out a pass, you have a Tito [Patrick Maswanganyi] that could pick a pass for him to score goals. Does he have those kinds of team-mates wherever he is heading?
“It is going to be a big challenge. I do not see Saleng picking up as soon as the league starts. It is going to take him a bit of time.”
Saleng has played 70 games and scored 25 goals, adding 17 assists, during his four-year stay at Pirates, among them five goals in 13 games last term, before he was frozen out of the squad.
He launched his career at Orbit College before moving to Free State Stars, where he spent four impressive years, after which Pirates snapped him up in 2021.
