Varsity Football star Thabo Mnyamane is top of the class

Varsity Football star Thabo Mnyamane has graduated to leading the line at SuperSport United, writes MAZOLA MOLEFE in SoccerClub magazine.

SuperSport United attacker Thabo Mnyamane is living out his football career in stages – and it’s breathtaking to watch.

The SuperSport wing has been thrust into the limelight as a key figure in the club’s PSL title challenge, after helping them climb to the top of the table at the halfway mark of the 2016-17 season. And that after a starring role in SuperSport’s march to the Telkom Knockout final, where they narrowly lost out to Cape Town City.

Mnyamane could easily have been viewed as a pet project for the University of Pretoria, his first club in the elite league after then coach Steve Barker recruited him four years ago, this while the wing was catching everyone’s eye in the inaugural Varsity Football competition.

‘I think I have grown as a player, but I don’t like to blow my own trumpet,’ says Mnyamane. ‘I have had to go through different levels of change in my objectives because of my surroundings. For me, Varsity Football was about raising my hand. Tuks was a step up and I had to deal with the disappointment of seeing them relegated last season, and now at SuperSport it’s all about competing and winning trophies.’

The 24-year-old isn’t necessarily the standout player in a side boasting goal machine Jeremy Brockie, wing Thuso Phala and the midfield combination of Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Dean Furman, but he’s special and ready for the responsibility of helping SuperSport end a title drought that’s stretched to five years.

‘Well, he was last-minute, but he wasn’t an impulsive buy,’ says Matsatsantsa coach Stuart Baxter. ‘It’s not like your wife going out to look for a coat and she comes back with six pairs of shoes. We knew about him, because Paul Matthews [chief scout at Tuks] told me about him and I had kept my eye on him.

‘I didn’t really think we needed a wide player, but when we looked at him we realised he can play wide and he can play as a 10. We took him anyway and thought he has potential from the start.’

Now that doubts about Mnyamane’s qualities have been dispelled, the playmaker is ready to reach new heights.

‘The second half of the season is often a mountain to climb. We have dropped the ball here and there, but what’s important is to be consistent,’ Mnyamane explains.

‘The coach encourages us to eliminate the bad habits, and that is exactly what I am trying to do. I don’t really set specific personal targets, but if I can maintain the basics of football, then I know I can be important for the team.’

BAXTER ON MNYAMANE

‘I told him that he came to us as a bit of a talent, but now he is a pro. I believe that is improvement. He came out doing nice things and whipping in nice crosses, but drifting out of the game and maybe not doing as much defending as he should do. He’s got a more steely attitude now, and is more professional in what he does. When he holds the ball you can see he has not lost the talent, and that is what I like.’