Kaizer Chiefs forward Lebogang Manyama has opened up over his failed spell in Turkey but insists he gained a lot and returns a better player than before.
Lebogang Manyama has returned to the Premier Soccer League just one year after leaving Cape Town City as the reigning Footballer of the Season, having joined Amakhosi last month.
The 28-year-old was a peripheral figure at Konyaspor, where he managed a total of just 404 minutes over the course of the 2017/18 season despite bearing the title of South Africa’s best local player at the time.
However, he has since explained what led to his phasing out at the Anatolian Eagle and is adamant he has brought back plenty of key lessons that could help him contribute to the success at Naturena.
“Three coaches in one season, it can never be easy, you know?” responded Manyama with a chuckle, when asked about his reason for not cutting it abroad. “But, yeah, it was a learning curve and it’s something that I wouldn’t say I put behind me but it’s something I went through. In every bad situation, I always try to look at the positives.
“And luckily, I think I became a better player, because obviously the standard there is a bit higher and you improve tactically and technically, and you know much better where to move on the field.
“Here in SA, obviously we know it’s end-to-end stuff in most of the games, but there it’s more tactical and you realise a couple of things when you’re there like football is not about running 200 kilometres per hour at times.
“Sometimes you just have to take one step and you get all the space you want, so I made sure I tried to learn as much as possible and hopefully I can bring it back and add value to the team [Chiefs].”
