Ouaddou tells Pirates winger Moremi to make his pace count

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has urged Bafana Bafana attacker Tshepang Moremi to remain an out-and-out winger and make the most of his greatest asset – his speed.

Moremi has been one of the league’s standout performers, repeatedly causing problems for defenders with his pace. He has rewarded Ouaddou’s confidence with seven goals and one assist in 11 matches across all competitions.

Ouaddou was speaking ahead of Pirates’ Carling Knockout Cup quarter-final against Sekhukhune United at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

The coach said his responsibility extends beyond setting up training sessions, delivering team talks and establishing a tactical system. He believes a team’s approach must reflect the abilities of the players available to him.

“To be a coach is not only planning about preparing training, doing team talks, and coming up with the game model. But it’s important to analyse the profile and quality of your players and deliver a game model that suits them,” said Ouaddou.

“Speaking about Moremi, there are a lot of people who are watching big teams like Manchester City, FC Barcelona and all the other teams, and everybody wants to have inverting players.”

Ouaddou said Moremi should not be expected to imitate Relebohile Mofokeng, who previously operated as a number 10, or adopt the same role as Appollis.

“Sometimes even though I want to have inverting players, the quality is sometimes to be simple and have an out-and-out winger.

“He is not a 10, and I cannot convert him to be a 10. I always tell him that you have a special quality that God gave you, which is speed, and you must use it with efficiency.

“I told him that when he realises his quality, he is going to be efficient. That’s what we did, but I cannot go into details as to how and where we use his speed because I will be giving you the plan.”

The Pirates coach believes Moremi’s direct style has benefited the team, with the winger contributing both goals and assists while avoiding the temptation to play selfishly.

“But he is using his quality in a wonderful way that is helping his teammates. He can’t be Mofokeng or Appollis; he will stay Moremi.

“He understands where I want to take him and how I want to play him, and it is working for him. The most important thing is when I see Moremi happy at the end of the game with a smile.

“He is able to score, and he is able to feed his teammates and he is not selfish and he is going to go far.”