Orlando Pirates boss Abdeslam Ouaddou says departures will not be an excuse

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says his responsibility is to rebuild the team’s attack after the departures of Relebohile Mofokeng and Patrick ‘Tito’ Maswanganyi, rather than use their absence as an excuse.

The pair were among Pirates’ most influential attacking players last season, but both have since moved on. Their exits have forced Ouaddou to reshape the club’s attacking structure and adjust his training methods to suit the qualities of the players now available to him.

Speaking to iDiski Times, Ouaddou said the changes had required Pirates to develop different playing patterns while continuing to focus on intensity and quick decision-making.

“We had very good profiles with Mofokeng, with Tito and for a coach it’s not easy to lose these kind of profiles but it’s life, it’s the life of football, like I said I wish them all the best but now the life of the club must move on,” Ouaddou said.

The French-Moroccan coach explained that Pirates were seeking a system capable of bringing the best out of their new attacking options.

“We have to use the profiles to find a system that is suitable – we wanted to play fast with intensity, with these new profiles, but the most important for me is how we can limit touches in crowded areas where there is lots of pressure,” he added.

Training has focused on encouraging players to assess their options before receiving the ball, helping them make quicker decisions in congested areas of the pitch.

“We need to train them to take and make decisions before receiving the ball, for me that’s the challenge, to reduce touches in the crowded areas and I think they did it very well today.”

Ouaddou also wants Pirates to create openings by moving opponents across the pitch. He praised Mthiyane, Masilela, Mokobodi and Selepe for executing switches of play effectively during the latest training work.

“I wanted to fix the opponent in one side and switch to opposite sides, which Mthiyane and Masilela, Mokobodi and Selepe did very well but we need to continue,” he said.

The coach admitted that replacing players of Mofokeng and Maswanganyi’s importance was a significant challenge, but insisted the club must continue moving forward.

“It’s a challenge when we are losing such important players.”

Despite recognising the difficulty of the rebuild, Ouaddou said he would not allow the changes to distract Pirates from their ambitions.

“My job is not to look for excuses, it’s to build, to find solutions and to keep bringing success and to win,” he said.

He also appealed for patience, particularly as the squad has lost five or six regular players and younger footballers are being brought into the system.

“Some people are a little hard because they don’t understand the process when you lose five or six players, regular players and then you have to rebuild, I’m not a magician, it takes some time, and some are not patient,” he said.

“But we’re seeing the fruit of the work, with youth we need to be patient as well. I was happy with the performance today.”