Orlando Pirates managing Oswin Appollis carefully after World Cup demands

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says Oswin Appollis is being carefully managed after the physical demands of the FIFA World Cup, with the club determined to protect the Bafana Bafana international from injury.

Appollis has made a slower-than-expected start to the season, particularly after the departure of Relebohile Mofokeng increased the responsibility on the 24-year-old winger. However, Ouaddou has dismissed any concerns about the player’s ability and insists Appollis remains one of the most valuable members of the Pirates squad.

The French-Moroccan coach said the priority was to restore Appollis to full fitness rather than expose him to unnecessary risks. He also stressed that the forward remains capable of making a decisive contribution even when he is not at his best.

“He’s one of our best players. And when you have a diamond in your house, you have to protect him.Appollis is Appollis, you know him. It’s somebody, even if he’s 50%, let’s say even 40%, he can score at any moment. So we are not surprised,” Ouaddou explained.

Ouaddou believes Appollis is experiencing a problem shared by many players who represented their countries at the World Cup before returning to the demands of another long season. He said the club’s performance, medical and technical departments were working together to help the player regain his best condition.

“Even in Europe, all the guys who have been in the World Cup, we can see that it’s difficult for them.With our performance department, medical department, the technical staff, we are doing everything for him to come back in good shape,” Ouaddou said.

The coach added that Appollis had been improving from match to match, but that the decision to rest him on a particular occasion was made to reduce the possibility of an injury.

“For that, today, I think every game is improving, and today it was a moment for us to protect him, maybe for him to rest and not to risk any injury.”

Ouaddou said he had expected international players to struggle with fatigue before the campaign began. He believes anticipating potential injuries is an important part of his responsibility as Pirates coach, even when players are unhappy about being substituted or left out.

“I knew that all these international players, they will be tired. And in order to protect them, I need to anticipate any big injuries. It’s my job to do that,” he explained.

He appeared to cite the serious injury suffered by Mamelodi Sundowns defender Khuliso Mudau as an example of the type of setback Pirates are trying to avoid.

“Sometimes the players, they don’t understand it. They are not happy to go out. But it’s my duty to protect them because we have seen in other teams that I don’t want to mention that they had unfortunately very big injuries.”

Pirates have already seen two of their Bafana Bafana players affected by injury this season. Thalente Mbatha has undergone surgery, while Evidence Makgopa is also sidelined.

Ouaddou said the club could not afford to lose more players during what he expects to be a lengthy campaign.

“We have already two players that made the surgery in Mbatha and we have Makgopa injured as well.So we don’t want to have more players injured because the season will be very long.”