Former Orlando Pirates captain Lucky Lekgwathi has identified one aspect that coach Jose Riveiro has brought to the club that makes them competitive.
Pirates finished second for a second successive season and subsequently booked a place at the CAF Champions League for next season alongside Mamelodi Sundowns.
However, they dropped their points tally from 54 during 2022/23 to 50 last season and also won two games less than the previous one. Riveiro has already won two MTN8 titles and a Nedbank Cup. The Buccaneers will face rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday.
WHY LUCKY LEKGWATHI IS IMPRESSED WITH THE IMPACT MADE BY THE ARRIVAL OF JOSE RIVEIRO
Lekgwathi believes the Spaniard has brought some healthy competition among the players.
“For me when you look at it, there is competition,” he told FARPost. “Everyone that comes into the team makes sure that they impress to get the starting position. For example, if you look at the competition between Thabiso Monyane and Thabiso Lebitso.
“You also look at the rest of the defence, [Thabiso] Sesane came in and they gave him a chance. But if you look at previous coaches most of these players didn’t have the chance to play. Look at the team now, everyone gets a chance to play,” he said.
HEALTHY COMPETITION FOR ORLANDO PIRATES TO SHOW TRUE POTENTIAL
“I think even Relebohile [Mofokeng], had it been another coach, it would have been difficult for him to play because they would say he is young. But the coach took a risk and gave him an opportunity to play
“He is regular now and I think he has replaced [Thembinkosi] Lorch now. So I think the coach is very fair. Everyone who fails, they do so because of themselves, not because they don’t get an opportunity to play.”
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