Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has weighed in on the emergence of defender Sandile Mthethwa this season.
Mthethwa has been phenomenal for Bucs this season despite not having played the majority of the games. The 26-year-old centre-back has featured in six matches for the Sea Robbers.
Since joining Pirates in 2015, he spent most of his time on loan spells where he saw himself paying for Richards Bay and Chippa United respectively.
Mthethwa returned to Riveiro’s side in June 2022 but struggled to break into the Soweto giants’ starting eleven.
In the six games he had played, the player showed his influence as a defender and helped his side to salvage some important wins in the process.
‘PLAYERS IMPROVE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO IMPROVE’
The Spanish mentor, Riveiro, has praised Mthethwa and reckons that they, as the technical team, “feel very proud.”
“The players improve because they want to improve. That’s the first thing that you need as a player,” Riveiro told the media.
“We are glad that we have a group that is trying to progress and get integrated into the team’s dynamics. That’s the key if we speak of every one of our players.
“I think there are many who are improving from our point of view. The one you mentioned [Sandile Mthethwa] is one of those cases. We are so happy to see him performing.”
Riveiro continued: “As I said, things are happening every week as we need to replace players sometimes. We have managed to have a little bit of continuity, but now, for example, we couldn’t repeat the starting eleven due to various reasons.
“But if a player suddenly comes in the starting eleven and performs at a level best and training we’ll that is something we as a technical team we feel very proud.”
Pirates are fighting for the CAF Champions League qualification, and maintaining their fine run record of victories will be something of paramount importance.
Currently, the Buccaneers are placed third on the log standings with 46 points, just a point behind second-placed SuperSport United.
The side’s next game will be against TS Galaxy, away from home, on Sunday, 30 April 2023. The kick-off is set for 15:00.
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