Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has opened up on his tactical gamble, dropping Bulelani Sigomoshe and starting Deon Hotto at right-back in Saturday’s Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs.
The Buccaneers edged Amakhosi 2-1 in a Betway Premiership tie at FNB Stadium to keep their title defence bid alive. Explaining why some of his decisions came back to haunt Pirates, Ouaddou admitted to journalists at a post-match press conference that dropping Sigomoshe was his error.
Signed from Milford FC in September, Sigomoshe started four of Pirates’ games in the run-up to the Soweto Derby. But he was surprisingly not in the matchday squad against Chiefs.
With Kamogelo Sebelebele out injured, Ouaddou had limited options at right-back and trusted Hotto. However, the Moroccan then substituted left-back Nkosikhona Ndaba at the start of the second half and switched Hotto to his natural role as Gamphani Lungu came on to play at right-back.
‘IT DIDN’T WORK’: OUADDOU MAKES ADMISSION ON BULELANI SIGOMOSHE AND HOTTO DECISION
The Buccaneers coach says he was protecting Sigomoshe from the pressure of the Soweto Derby and has admitted what he says was a mistake in starting Hotto on the right side of defence.
“I had the choice to make. I told you about the magnitude of the game, and there were 100,000 people,” Ouaddou told the media.
“A player who was doing well in previous games, Sigomoshe, until the last moment I had decided to put Hotto there because of his experience and because the opponent on his side was right-footed.
“I was thinking that it could work there to stop him and to protect Sigomoshe as well because he did well in the last games, and I am happy for somebody to integrate so easily. Coming from Milford to such a big club, congratulations to him.
“But I didn’t want to burn him because these kinds of games are 50-50, you can be successful, or you can burn yourself as well. So, I decided to put an experienced guy there, but it didn’t work properly there.
“We didn’t have the depth, we didn’t have the runs behind like Sibelebele can do, like a pure full-back can do on that side. You know, in our game model, the full-backs are very important, and I think I didn’t help the team, especially in the first half.
“So, it’s something that I have to take and analyse with my technical staff. Nobody is perfect, and you can see that some coaches can make mistakes as well.”
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