By KOPANO MONAHENG
ORLANDO Pirates have given their supporters something to smile about this Sunday at Kings Park Stadium in Durban.
This after putting Chippa United to the sword and walking away with a crucial win – and, even better, a clean sheet. Chippa 0 – 3 Pirates and the goals came from Lungu in the 60th minutes, Seema 63rd, and Msendami 87th minutes.
All in all Pirates have collected four points from their previous two league games, the Buccaneers knew they had to raise the temperature.
Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was not impressed with the team’s performance in midweek against AmaZulu FC, particularly their failure to turn chances into more goals.
But Pirates came back with a different attitude today. This time, the Buccaneers looked sharper, more determined and more clinical, turning what was an unimpressive midweek outing into a result that will bring confidence back into the camp.
And the coach could not hide his happiness after the final whistle. Ouaddou said his players gave him the response he wanted after he had been hard on them following their previous performance.
“Like I told you, I think the boys, my boys, gave me a great response today. You know, when a father or big brother is shouting in the dressing room, who knows my players and the psychology of my players better than me?” said Ouaddou.
The Pirates coach defended his approach, saying sometimes he needs to be hard on his players to get the best out of them.
“People talk too much and say the coach cannot talk like that in the media. Sometimes you need to be a little bit hard with your boys to have this kind of performance.”
Pirates had a difficult first half, but Ouaddou said there was no panic in the dressing room at half-time.
“We knew that it would be difficult, but to be honest, we were not panicking. At half-time, we just spoke calmly and made some tactical adjustments, especially with our front line, in order to find players between the lines and in the intervals.”
The changes appeared to make a difference as Pirates came out with a stronger approach in the second half.
“We were so calm, and they gave me a very good answer today,” he added.
Ouaddou also explained his tactical approach, saying he wanted Pirates to control possession and find players in spaces between the lines.
“Yeah, you know, I’m a coach who really wants to have the ball. Regarding the profile of the opponent, we knew that they would have maybe a mid-block, a compact block, and we needed some players to find the players between the lines.”
The coach was also pleased with the contribution from his players, particularly the young Pirates who he believes have a bright future at the club.
“I think they were great. They were great to provide young Pirates with a great future,” he said.
For the Pirates faithful, this is exactly the kind of response they wanted to see – a victory, three points and a defence that refused to give Chippa a way through.
And for Ouaddou, the credit belongs to the players.
“But overall, credit has to be given to the boys. A fantastic answer from the keeper to the striker, involving the impact players. They gave us a very good answer today.”
Now the attention turns to a much bigger battle.
Pirates travel to face Sekhukhune United next Saturday in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final, and the pressure will be on the Buccaneers to carry this momentum into the cup competition.
However, Chippa coach says his team made a lot of errors at the back that led to Pirates finding the back of the net. “A mistake from a boy unlike him and then from a set play, but it’s individual mistakes. Things we can work on, things we can rectify. So it’s about a progression today and congratulations to Orlando Pirates,” said
