Orlando Pirates reveal secret Training121 role in player development

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has explained the club’s previously undisclosed partnership with Training121, an Irish specialist provider brought in to support individual player development.

The Buccaneers have been using the programme since last season, with players receiving additional coaching in areas including finishing, scanning, decision-making and football intelligence.

The partnership was first reported in June, but Pirates had not publicly discussed Training121’s involvement. Ouaddou said the club had initially chosen not to announce the arrangement and that its impact had taken time to become visible.

“Look, they’ve been working with us since last season. We just didn’t communicate about them,” he said after Pirates’ 2-0 victory over Durban City at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Thursday.

“But maybe we didn’t see the fruit of their work straight away. All the time, when you work, you don’t see the benefits of this work straight away. It took a little bit of time.”

Ouaddou said the extra sessions form part of a wider individual development plan, or IDP, at Pirates. He believes the approach is particularly important for younger players, whose development continues even after they have entered senior professional football.

“But I think in our planification, in our prioritisation, there is all the time a room for IDP, individual development plan, especially for the young players,” he said.

“Because you have to understand that when you come in a professional group, especially when you’re still young, the development is not finished. So they are here for that.”

The work extends beyond Training121 and is not restricted to a particular position. Ouaddou said Pirates have several coaches involved in individual sessions, with defenders, midfielders and strikers all receiving specialist attention.

“Not only them. We have Mxolisi, we have Rayaan Jacobs, we have Junior as well, the coach of the other team,” he added.

“That taking defenders, taking strikers, midfielders, and there is a lot of area to work.”

Ouaddou identified cognitive development as a particular priority, especially for midfielders. Having worked elsewhere on the continent, the Moroccan coach said young players could improve their ability to scan the pitch, absorb information and make decisions during matches.

“We think that especially our midfielders and in the continent, let’s say, because I’ve been working in the continent for a while, some of the young players, they didn’t have this development in terms of cognitive, in terms of scanning, in terms of taking the information, especially in the heart of the game, in the middle,” he said.

Individual coaching gives players time to work on details that may not receive the same focus during full-team training.

“Sometimes when you make this global training, it’s more tactical or physical. You are looking for a topic, a subject,” Ouaddou said.

“But then after they go with 20 minutes to develop this finishing, this scanning. And of course, the defenders, they are with me because I was central defender. So it’s my area.”