Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Morgan Gould has offered words of advice to Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, who has fallen out of favour at the Soweto giants.
Gould believes that Ditlhokwe’s situation mirrors his own experiences at Chiefs and that the Botswana international needs to take a step back and reassess his career path.
Ditlhokwe joined Chiefs ahead of the 2023/24 Betway Premiership as a free agent after his contract with SuperSport United ended.
The Botswana captain arrived at Chiefs with high hopes of making a significant impact. However, an injury hampered his first season at the club, limiting him to 21 appearances across all competitions.
Now under the guidance of coach Nasreddine Nabi, the 26-year-old has yet to feature in an official match. Nabi has opted to pair new signings Rushwin Dortley and Inácio Miguel in central defence, while Given Msimango has been coming off the bench.
GOULD SEES PARALLELS BETWEEN HIMSELF AND DITLHOKWE
Gould, who spent several years at Chiefs and experienced his own ups and downs, believes that Ditlhokwe may be struggling with motivation or a lack of clarity about his future.
He also urged Ditlhokwe to stay focused and work hard at training to earn his place in the starting eleven.
“The Ditlhokwe situation is exactly what happened to me [at Kaizer Chiefs]. I think he’s in a space where he needs to reflect on why he’s playing football and why he moved from SuperSport United,” Gould told FARPost.
“He needs to go back and relive those main reasons. I got doubted also, that’s the same thing. The only way for him to correct this is to work extra hard and stay focused.
“I would say to him, ‘Stay remembering that you can believe in yourself; you are the best version of yourself, and you are competing with yourself.’
“The team took his services for a reason. There is no other sweet joy than that, remembering why you were wanted. There is no time for pity party, football moves, if you stay behind it would be difficult to catch-up. But he seems like a very focused guy, he will comeback and add value.”
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