Following Orlando Pirates’ 2-0 victory over Milford FC on the opening day of the Betway Premiership, Abdeslam Ouaddou has given a fascinating take on the Buccaneers’ squad size.
Pirates began their league title defence with a win against newcomers Milford at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Soweto giants collected maximum points thanks to goals from Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi.
In the match against the KZN-based side, Ouaddou kept the core of his team from last season, which delivered a treble after clinching the Betway Premiership, MTN8 and the Carling Knockout Cup titles.
After the conclusion of the previous campaign, Pirates beefed up their squad with nine new players after signing Neo Rapoo, Matome Mmolai, Ghampani Lungu, Mthetheleli Mthiyane, Sbangani Zulu, Bohlale Ngwato, Thapelo Mokobodi, Sebastian Pedersen and Aphiwe Baliti, who returned to Siwelele FC on a season-long loan.
Although Pirates have also parted with more than 10 players in the current transfer window, they still boast one of the biggest squads with 41 players in their books.
ABDESLAM OUADDOU WANTS TO WORK WITH LESS THAN 35 PLAYERS AT PIRATES
Reflecting on navigating the squad size, Ouaddou admitted that it’s difficult to work with more than 35 players, and his preference is to have only 30 in-field players with four goalkeepers.
“Look, if we play all the competitions, the PSL, the [CAF] Champions League, MTN8, Carling Knockout Cup and the Nedbank Cup, 30 players are okay,” Ouaddou said.
“For me, 30 players, and you add four goalkeepers; it’s 34. We can have some suspensions and injured players, so if we play all these competitions, I can manage 30 players and more than that, maybe 35; it starts to be difficult because you cannot be efficient with your work.
“One point that is very important is, when you have 30 players to manage, of course, you need the staff, and we have the staff to manage these numbers, but you need facilities as well. When I say facilities, I mean having at least two [training] pitches.”
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