Orlando Pirates supporters have expressed concern over Daniel Msendami’s early performances following his cameo against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday night.
The Buccaneers suffered a 2-1 defeat in the Betway Premiership clash at the FNB Stadium, a result that saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to just three points, with the Brazilians still holding a game in hand.
With six minutes remaining and Pirates chasing an equaliser, head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou introduced Msendami in search of an attacking spark.
The Zimbabwean winger, however struggled to make a decisive impact. Despite finding himself in promising positions, he was unable to deliver the final pass or beat his marker in one-on-one situations.
Msendami, who joined Pirates from Marumo Gallants in January, arrived with high expectations after impressive displays for Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup of Nations. But after a quiet debut earlier this month, his outing against Sundowns has further divided opinion among the Buccaneers faithful.
Pirates fans not happy with Msendami
Some supporters were quick to draw comparisons with former Pirates winger Gilberto, who failed to live up to expectations during his spell at the club.
One fan posted: “As for Daniel Msendami, the man is not make sho… let’s hope we were not scammed like that Gilberto guy.”
Another wrote: “Msendami is Gilberto 2.0 with a little bit of Saile. No player there! No brain! He’s playing s’yaHlofa football like Saile.”
A third added: “Msendami is exactly what I thought, good player if we got him for free but that’s another Gilberto in my opinion. At least he didn’t cost us R10m.”
Msendami has time to prove critics wrong at Pirates
However, not all reaction was negative. Some supporters urged patience, pointing out the difficulty of joining a new club midway through the season.
“De Jongh and Msendami are good players… buying any player in January is dangerous as it doesn’t involve any pre-season training, tuning, conditioning, getting to know their teammates, etc. We will only judge those two next season,” another fan commented.
For now, Msendami faces mounting scrutiny as he looks to prove his worth at Orlando Pirates and silence early critics.