Ouaddou warns Orlando Pirates they will win ‘nothing’ without improvement

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou criticised his players despite their 3-0 victory over Milford FC in the first round of the Carling Knockout Cup on Tuesday.

The defending champions scored all three goals before half-time at home to the Stallions to secure their place in the quarter-finals, but Ouaddou said the result and a clean sheet were the only positives from the performance.

The Moroccan manager was particularly unhappy with the decision-making of some players, accusing them of trying to score themselves when they could have created better opportunities for team-mates.

Ouaddou warned that Orlando Pirates would not win silverware this season unless they showed greater discipline and seriousness.

“I think the only positive point is the win,” Ouaddou told SuperSport TV.

“I think I will only retain this victory because I was not happy about how we played. We didn’t have the control. We had a lot of precipitation. We were selfish, a lot of players were selfish. Instead of giving the ball to the teammate to score, and they are not in the bad position, they shoot.

“A lot of wrong decision making. The positive point is these three goals and clean sheet but to be honest, if we want to dream bigger, when I say dream bigger, it’s to win the Betway Premiership, it’s to win the CAF Champions League.

“I think if we continue like that, we are going to win nothing, and we have to be honest. I was not happy about the game. The positive point we go to the next stage, but there are a lot of players they need to really to wake up.”

‘We need to wake up’

Ouaddou also expressed concern that Milford had enjoyed more possession than Orlando Pirates for periods of the match, despite playing at the champions’ home ground.

He said that was unacceptable for a club with ambitions of competing for major domestic and continental honours.

“When you are playing such games and we are defending the title you need to be ready from the first minute because you can see that a team like Milford can come here and have the possession,” he added.

“I think I have to check the data, the stats but they cannot have more possession than you here. Even if we played three days before, okay, maybe we lack the freshness, but we rotate the team.

“And I think when we are playing for such big club, Pirates, we need to wake up. We need to wake up. I’m not here to nurse people.

“When we are playing for such big brand, and when we are ambitious to play in the continent, we need to wake up. When we sign the contract for Pirates we have to play another level to be honest.”