Patrick 'Tito' Maswanganyi has been a breath of fresh air for Orlando Pirates with his unique skilful style of playing and contribution to the team.
Some call it showboating, while others see it as a perfect and modern way of eliminating opponents to create goalscoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, but whichever way you see it, the midfielder's system of playing is working for him.
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The Bucs fan favourite has started the season on a high with impressive and consistent performances like he finished the previous campaign as the Soweto giants have been firing on all cylinders in the MTN8 and CAF Champions League respectively.
The 26-year-old was one of the goalscorers as the Buccaneers defeated Madagascar's Disciples 4-0 to advance to the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
Last season, which was his first for Ezimnyama, the Tembisa-born player amassed a whopping 40 appearances across all competitions, scoring 10 goals with 12 assists on his way to becoming the DStv (now Betway) Premiership Players' Player of the Season, Midfielder of the Season, and Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament.
Despite his achievements, Maswanganyi has sometimes been subjected to criticism, with some fans on social media questioning his sportsmanship whenever he appeared to be in disagreement with a teammate over issues on the field.
Former Pirates midfielder Nkosinathi Mqobongo has come out in Maswanganyi's defence, speaking to Soccer Laduma.
"What I can tell you is that, as players we do argue and exchange words on the field over certain issues like when a teammate has lost the ball unnecessarily, that is normal. When a teammate has given the ball to an opponent, you do have to call him to order. You play a long ball and lose the ball while we are around you and you could have passed to one of us, we will shout at you, that's normal. We fight as players. As players, we know each other from training, and we know what each one of us like and not in terms of how we want to play, it starts from there," said Mqobongo, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
"There are players who are known for wanting to keep the ball. The players who want the ball at their feet all the time, or for it to be with their teammate at least. I think he (Maswanganyi) falls into that category of players. I was like that myself, and I didn't want players to lose the ball cheaply. I wanted us to keep possession and play football. But there were those players who preferred to play long balls and were confident in themselves for playing that way. But with such type of football it depends, it can succeed, and it cannot succeed. About the hand gestures and all that, it happens on the field. I would say it's because of passion that someone ends up doing that. You can show your disappointment with hand gestures, you can use your hands as a sign of disapproval to something, and all of these things depend on the situation. We've got to look at all these scenarios carefully first before we start assuming that he is getting full of himself. It's got nothing with being overconfident. As footballers, we have different personalities. Some players are just passionate, especially the guys who really know how to play football and are good at it, they are like that. Some players see four or five passes before they actually happen, and then there you are disrupting all of that by giving the ball away because you don't see what is being orchestrated. You are just a player who's only focus is on the next pass," he said.
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"Sometimes you use the hands as a reminder to the guys as to what the instruction (from the coach) was. It's part of football and the passion that comes with it. It's nothing new. Back in the day, a teammate would shout at you in front of everyone, and that was normal. For me, the guy (Maswanganyi) is passionate, and it shows that he knows and understands football, because the game isn't played only by the feet but with the brain as well. In fact, it's the brain that does most of the work on the field, and the feet are there to just complement it. We can't control the guy's emotions, and we can't dictate to him on how he should behave on the field, and we can't tie his hands to say he can't use them to show his emotions. Lucky (Lekgwathi) used to do the same, Papi (Khomane) did that as well, and I can count several other players who did it," concluded Mqobongo.
Oh dear. No need for this from Patrick Maswanganyi. SuperSport players riling him up.80 mins goneOrlando Pirates 1-1 SuperSport United pic.twitter.com/XVBVsSnl48
— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) August 3, 2024
