What is Andre de Jong bringing to Pirates?

Orlando Pirates recently announced the arrival of New Zealand international Andre de Jong from Stellenbosch.

It was a massive win for the Soweto giants, who have been chasing the versatile midfielder who made 114 appearances for Stellies with a return of 16 goals and 11 assists.

It was a surprising move from the Sea Robbers’ technical team, because they already have several midfielders who can deliver in the final third. Bucs legend Benedict Tso Vilakazi has now analysed what the towering midfielder is bringing to the club.

Skillfull, creates chances and scores

“He’s a very good player, I like him, I saw him when he was playing for Royal AM and then Stellenbosch. He’s a very smart player, very intelligent, good with the ball, good without the ball,” Vilakazi said, told Soccer Laduma.

“He can play as a false number nine, he can play as a number ten, he can play as a winger but a winger that tucks inside. That’s a good signing from Pirates to balance the team. It also helps the stability of the team, in terms of the color part, to say sinengamla, ungamla uhlakaniphile (we have a smart white player). Umlungu umnyama (a white guy who is black inside).

“Because when he plays, if somebody can hear his name being called on the radio, they can even think that he’s black, because he plays like black players. He’s skillful, he knows how to create chances, he knows how to score,” he added.

De Jong can make things happen

“Look, besides ‘Tito’ (Patrick Maswanganyi) at number ten initially, they don’t have another number ten, that’s why they end up playing Mbule in that number ten role and naturally Mbule is not a number ten, he’s a number eight player,” Vilakazi continued.

“So De Jong is a typical number ten, he can make things happen in that attacking zone. When ‘Tito’ dropped a bit, that’s when they put Mbule (in the number ten position) and they forget that Mbule is not a typical number ten.

“Yes, he can create chances here and there, he can score there and there but he’s not a typical number ten. By getting De Jong, I think they will complement each other very well. Tito can also play with De Jong, they are both intelligent, the creativity part, that’s where I rate them highly to create good chances,” he concluded.