Zothwane warns Sekhukhune United must respect Orlando Pirates without fearing them

Sekhukhune United head coach Papi Zothwane says his side must recognise Orlando Pirates’ attacking quality while retaining confidence in their own ability to compete with the Buccaneers.

Sekhukhune have lost all four of their meetings with Pirates this season, failing to score in any of those matches and conceding seven goals.

Their most recent setback came on Saturday at the Orlando Amstel Arena, where Pirates secured a place in the Carling Knockout Cup semi-finals by eliminating Babina Noko in the quarter-finals.

Zothwane said Pirates’ squad had enough attacking talent to punish opponents who fail to remain tactically disciplined.

“I think Pirates have a lot of quality players and as a coach it’s always difficult to challenge them pound for pound. You have to play them acknowledging their strengths because offensively they’re a threat,” he said at the post-match press conference.

The Sekhukhune coach also cautioned against taking an excessively aggressive approach, particularly by committing too many players forward to press Pirates high up the pitch.

“You can’t be naive and play Pirates with a high press because you’re gonna leave spaces and get exposed,” Zothwane said.

However, he believes the outcome of the fixture is influenced by more than tactics. Zothwane suggested that his players can become so focused on Pirates’ reputation and strengths that they lose sight of their own preparation and game plan.

“But I still say, it all depends on our players, do they respect Pirates’ players more than themselves because if you’re playing Pirates you have to think about your team and your plans instead of their threat,” he added.

Zothwane acknowledged that pressure and uncertainty can also affect Sekhukhune when they face the Soweto club. The team’s difficulty in securing a positive result at Orlando has added to that challenge, he said.

“Sometimes the anxiety takes over but I believe we have a team capable of beating Pirates, it’s just unfortunate that when we come here (Orlando), it’s difficult to win,” he concluded.

Saturday’s defeat extended Sekhukhune’s unsuccessful run against Pirates and left Zothwane looking for a solution to the tactical and psychological problems that have repeatedly prevented his side from taking a positive result against them.