Without a doubt, Orlando Pirates’ new coach José Riveiro is walking into the lion’s den at the Soweto giants. His predecessors have struggled to guide the club to the coveted league title in a decade. The ‘Buccaneers’ haven’t come anywhere near winning the league title since 2012. Not good enough for a club as big as the ‘Sea Robbers’. Since then, the revolving door at Parktown has seen 11 substantive coaches take turns to try and recapture the glory days to no avail.
FARPost looks at 10 things Riveiro needs to address immediately to succeed at Pirates.
Bring in a new goalkeeper
Ghanaian goalie Richard Ofori has been a model of inconsistency since arriving at the club two seasons ago. The Black Stars shot-stopper is prone to injuries, while Siyabonga Mpontshane is not dependable. He doesn’t have what it takes to be a number one at the Bucs. Having released Wayne Sandilands, Riveiro needs to find a fitting keeper.
Establish order at the back
Pirates have not been compact enough defensively. Last season, they let in more goals [28] than Sekhukhune [24], who finished 11th. In the top seven, they were the second-worst in terms of conceding.
They say a good defence wins you league titles, but first thing’s first. Riveiro needs to sort the structure with Tapelo Xoki and Nkosinathi Sibisi joining from AmaZulu and Golden Arrows. Olisa Ndah was a steady pillar last season, and the Spaniard could look to build around the Nigerian now that Thulani Hlatshwayo and Ntsikelelo Nyauza are gone.
Re-organise the midfield
None of the ‘Happy People’ midfielders has convinced fans unanimously, with Linda Mntambo and Thabang Monare already gone. Pirates’ inability to control games is astounding for a so-called Big Three side. Riveiro will need to re-organise his new team looks in the centre of the pitch and bring some kind of structure there.
Get the strikers scoring
Countless times, last season’s Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi lamented the team’s failure to convert the chances they created. “It’s not the first time. When we played the team from Swaziland, in the same scenario, I can count the number of games. We seem not to be good learners. I thought we had enough chances even in the first half before we scored. We had enough chances. It’s just that sickness.
“We had clear-cut chances. We are just failing with that important part of scoring, but let me not sound ungrateful for the players’ fightback. From two goals down, they come back and win the match. Congratulations to them, nerve-wracking. But it’s the nature of the game. Not the prettiest of matches. The surface was not allowing, which is why we went for competition and duel rather than trying to play pretty.
“If you look at the number of chances created, I don’t think they created a lot of chances other than the last one that I saw now. But other than that, you can count the chances that we created. I think the team that deserved to win today is Pirates. Take the chances. Even the score would be six, according to my scale from the bench,” he said after a match in March 2022.
The story has been the same all season. Eighth-placed SuperSport United scored more goals than the 2022 Caf Confederation Cup finalists, who finished sixth in the DStv Premiership. They only managed to score 34 goals in 30 games.
Fuse youth with experience
The one name that quickly springs to mind is Boitumelo Radiopane. Crowned the DStv Diski Challenge Player of the Season after sinking an impressive 25 goals in 27 appearances, the Bucs prodigy is tipped to become a top striker. Embracing Radiopane and others a little more may well be the ‘Get out of Jail’ card that Riveiro needs for a rocky journey.
Motivate the players
Riveiro must convince the players that they have what it takes to win trophies. Last season, his assistant coach Ncikazi told the media that Mamelodi Sundowns shop at Woolworths while Pirates buy at Spar and Pick ‘n Pay. In essence, he was implying that the quality at Pirates doesn’t compare with the Brazilians.
With Riveiro’s mission being to win the league, he needs to motivate the group of players so that they can challenge Bafana Ba Style for honours.
Controlling dressing room
He will need to have a firm grip on his dressing room. Josef Zinnbauer, at some point, lost the dressing room. When you lose your dressing room as a coach, there’s little you can achieve. The former Inter Turku mentor of Finland will need to get them playing as a unit.
Discipline issues
Any team that wants to win trophies needs to ensure discipline in their camp. He needs to instil discipline. While it may not have been confirmed, Gabadinho Mhango was affected by discipline issues last campaign, curtailing his progress at the former African champions. The new man in charge will need to harness his charges and ensure they stay on the line.
Be firm on his game model
The 46-year-old needs to establish familiarity in his set-up since ‘Amabhakabhaka’ have had no consistency in their constant shape-shifting. He needs to find something that works for most of the players he inherits and have them all pull in the same direction.
You get the sense that there has been no consistent playing pattern at the Bucs in recent seasons. It isn’t easy to pinpoint what style Zinnbauer played or Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids.
Therefore, Riveiro must introduce a game model and be firm on it. Whether he has inherited the right kind of players for that style is another question.
Bring the best out of their best players
Pirates have too many players who haven’t hit top gear but could potentially do more.
For instance, a good coach will get more from Thembinkosi Lorch and Vincent Pule.
The Spaniard needs to convince the changing room of his ideas and help the best players to be at their best again.
His biggest undoing is if players sense he doesn’t know what he’s doing. That will be the end before he even begins.
