Kauleza: Current Orlando Pirates have stronger team spirit than 2002-03 champions

Former Orlando Pirates striker Jimmy Kauleza believes the club’s 2002-03 league-winning side had greater individual quality, but says the current team is united by a level of team spirit that his generation could not match.

Pirates won the league in the 2002-03 season after collecting 61 points, finishing six points ahead of runners-up SuperSport United, who ended the campaign on 55 points.

The title was secured under the guidance of Roy Barreto, with the squad including the late Lesley Manyathela, Mbulelo Mabizela, Steve Lekoelea, Gift Leremi and Benedict Vilakazi.

Despite praising the current side’s unity and success, Kauleza maintains that his former team was stronger when it came to the quality of its players. However, he accepts that the present generation has achieved more collectively, with the ability to challenge for several trophies in a single season.

“Overall, this current Pirates team is better than our generation because they can win three cups in one season; we used to win one cup per season,” Kauleza tells KickOff.

His assessment is based not only on results but also on the atmosphere within the squad. Kauleza says the current players appear to be working towards the same objectives, while their coach has helped drive that collective effort.

“The current Pirates team is playing in one spirit, and the coach is pushing them. We had quality, but the spirit was not there. We had better quality than them, but these boys are really pushing themselves.

“Jealousy was our biggest letdown.

“We were not together as one. Jealousy amongst the teammates was the biggest problem. But that is bound to happen if you sign only quality players in one team. There’ll be a lot of egos, as some will get paid way better than others,” adds the man nicknamed ‘Gusheshe’.

Kauleza’s comments highlight the contrast between the two Pirates teams. The 2002-03 side possessed a group of highly regarded players and finished comfortably clear of Matsatsantsa in the league standings. Yet, according to Kauleza, individual ability did not automatically produce unity.

He believes differences between players, including disparities in wages, contributed to tension in the older squad. Those divisions, he says, prevented the team from functioning as one despite its talent.

The former striker’s comparison comes as attention remains focused on the development of the current Orlando Pirates squad. A related report has also linked the club with another youngster from Ermelo, while another feature has examined Deon Hotto’s career, family, jail, spending and discipline.

For Kauleza, the defining strength of the modern Pirates team is therefore not a higher level of individual quality. It is the willingness of the players to push each other and compete together, a quality he feels was missing from the side that won the league in 2002-03.