Ouaddou explains Orlando Pirates’ move for ‘finisher’ Sebastian Pedersen in bid to boost conversion rate

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says the signing of Norwegian striker Sebastian Pedersen was driven by a need to improve the team’s chance conversion after creating more opportunities than any other club on the continent last season.

Pedersen, 27, has joined Pirates from Norwegian second-tier side Sogndal IL in a transfer that caught many observers off guard, given both the club he arrived from and the relative lack of noise around the deal before it was completed.

The forward has built a solid scoring record in Norway, registering 51 goals and eight assists in 117 appearances for Sogndal and Moss FK across the last four and a half seasons. He had started the current campaign strongly too, with eight goals in 14 matches before his move to South Africa.

Different profile to existing strikers

Ouaddou confirmed that the club’s recruitment team had been tasked with finding a centre-forward who offered a different set of attributes to existing options Yanela Mbuthuma, Boitumelo Radiopane and Evidence Makgopa.

“The scouting department of the club I think was looking for a profile that can help us increase the average of conversion,” Ouaddou said on Tuesday.

He pointed to last season’s underlying numbers as a key factor in the decision to move for Pedersen, arguing that Pirates’ dominance in chance creation needed to be matched by greater ruthlessness in front of goal.

“I know last season, we were the team in the continent who had the best average of chances [created], and we have some good players with us. I think he’s integrating with the group.

“As you have seen last season, we needed this finisher, this profile who can finish the actions.”

Finisher, freshness and ‘competences’

Ouaddou stressed that Pedersen had been thoroughly assessed by the club’s scouts before the coaching staff approved the signing, and that they believe his characteristics will complement what is already in the squad.

“I think the scouting department have seen him, we have studied him and I think it’s somebody who can bring us his freshness, his quality and his competences,” he said.

With the striker having arrived during Pirates’ pre-season phase, Ouaddou underlined the importance of accelerating his adaptation, particularly during their training camp in Spain.

“It’s why it’s very important for us to have him with us for a couple of days in Spain trying to integrate him, because as you know you can be a good player, but when you come in a new environment, we have to make it easy for him and to integrate him in our collective.”

Squad integration the immediate priority

Beyond Pedersen’s goal record, Ouaddou repeatedly returned to the theme of integration, insisting that fitting the Norwegian into the team’s structure and dressing-room dynamic will be as important as his individual qualities.

The coach believes the environment created around the new signing in Spain will help ease the transition from Norwegian football to life at Orlando Pirates, and ultimately allow Pedersen to deliver the finishing edge the side felt it lacked last season.

No details were disclosed about the length of Pedersen’s contract or the fee involved in the transfer, but Ouaddou’s comments make clear that the forward has been recruited with a specific tactical purpose: to convert the high volume of chances that Pirates already create into more goals and, ultimately, more wins.