Farouk Khan on what Patrick Maswanganyi has improved on at Pirates

Stars of Africa Academy director and coach Farouk Khan has revealed what Patrick Maswanganyi has improved on as a player at Orlando Pirates.

Khan and Maswanganyi’s connection goes back a long way. Farouk Khan mentored Maswanganyi during his early days as a budding footballer at the Stars of Africa Academy.

‘Tito’ has become one of the fan-favourites at Pirates after he made a switch from SuperSport United ahead of the 2023/24 season.

The Bafana Bafana international has been consistent in his performances. In his first season, the 26-year-old made 40 appearances in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and providing 12 assists.

He helped the Sea Robbers win two titles: the MTN8 title and the Nedbank Cup. For his consistent performances, Maswanganyi was honoured with three accolades at the PSL awards on Sunday. These are the Premiership Player’s Player of the Season, the DStv Premiership Midfielder of the Season and the Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament.

FAROUK KHAN SAYS PATRICK MASWANYANYI HAS DEVELOPED TO BE A LEADER AT PIRATES

Khan says Maswanganyi has learnt to be a leader in the Pirates team. He specifically points to an instance where Maswanganyi rallied his teammates during halftime in the crucial match against Kaizer Chiefs.

The Sea Robbers were trailing 2-0, however, they ended up winning 3-2. The footage was shown in the Pirates documentary called The Bucs Camp: Changeroom on SuperSport PSL.

“I think he’s grown to become a leader at Pirates, which is so important in today’s football,” Khan told FARPost.

“When you look at a game when Pirates were playing Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs. Pirates were behind [2-0]; I saw the interview in the changeroom at half-time.

“How Maswanganyi motivated the players, how he got the players to rally around in the field of play. He created a goal and was involved in another one. So, it’s not just his playing ability but his leadership as well.

Khan further praised Maswanganyi’s personality in a team, likening it to legends like Teko Modise and Lucas Radebe.

“We don’t realise the importance of personality; you can get good players without personalities.

“In the past, you could talk about the personalities of Teko Modise and Lucas Radebe, I think Tito falls into that category. Football at the highest level requires a player to have a very strong personality,” he added.

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