Mamelodi Sundowns claimed a 2-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs to surge to the top of the DStv Premiership standings on Sunday evening.
A former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a defender, Andrew Rabutla, 49, believes Njabulo Ngcobo is good enough to play regularly for Kaizer Chiefs than his teammate Erick Mathoho this comes after Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 in the DStv Premiership.
Much was expected from the reigning PSL Defender of the Season when he joined Amakhosi from their Soweto rivals, Swallows FC prior to the start of the current season.
However, Ngcobo is yet to make his official debut for Chiefs with the club’s head coach Stuart Baxter preferring the central defensive partnership of Erick Mathoho and Daniel Cardoso.
“The situation Ngcobo finds himself in at the moment at Chiefs is definitely not good for the player,” Rabutla said on Sowetan.
“I watched Chiefs’ match against [Mamelodi] Sundowns at the weekend and there were a few incidents where Mathoho was caught in one-on-one situations with attackers threatening them in the box.
“I am not saying Mathoho is the one who must be sacrificed for Ngcobo but what I am saying is that if it was Ngcobo, he was possibly going to handle those situations better.”
Having helped Bafana defeat Ghana in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier on September 9, Ngcobo watched from the bench as Chiefs succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Sundowns in a PSL encounter.
Rabutla, who played for South Africa at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso, feels that Ngcobo would improve the Amakhosi defence.
“I watched him closely at Swallows last season and I know he is a very good defender who will surely add value if he is given an opportunity to play,” he continued.
“I think they signed him because he is a good player and he must be itching to get on the field and show what he can do for a big club like Chiefs, and also continue impressing national coach Hugo Broos.
“He is good enough and he will definitely challenge the guys who are there if he is given an opportunity. The coach must play him because we also need him for Bafana Bafana.
“How can you not play a player who played almost all the matches for Swallows last season? I don’t understand it,” the former Jomo Cosmos star added.
“He has all the qualities of a defender because he is good in the air, he is quick, he is a man marker, he produces clean tackles and he can handle all the situations required of a defender.”
Ngcobo will be hoping to make his official debut for Chiefs when they take on Royal AM in a PSL match on Saturday.
