Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has acknowledged the challenge of rebuilding his side following the departures of key attacking players Relebohile Mofokeng and Patrick “Tito” Maswanganyi.
The Buccaneers have lost two players who offered significant individual quality and creativity, leaving Ouaddou with the task of adapting his tactical approach around a new group of players.
For the coach, losing players of Mofokeng and Maswanganyi’s profile is never easy, but he insists Pirates cannot afford to dwell on their departures.
“We had very good profiles with Mofokeng, with Tito. And for a coach it’s not easy to lose this kind of profiles, but it’s life. It’s life of football,” Ouaddou said.
“Like I said, I wish them all the best, but now the life of the club must move on and to use the profiles, trying to find a system that’s suitable for these new profiles.”
Rather than attempting to replicate what Mofokeng and Maswanganyi brought to the team, Ouaddou is looking to develop a system that maximises the strengths of the players now available to him.
The coach wants Pirates to continue playing with speed and intensity, but believes one of the key areas of development is how quickly his players process information in possession.
“Of course that we wanted to play fast, you know, with intensity, with these new profiles,” he explained.
“But the most important for me is how we can limit the touches in a crowded area where there are not pressure, and especially to train them to take the information and to see, to take the information and to take the decision before receiving the ball.”
For Ouaddou, that ability to scan, process and decide before receiving possession is central to the way he wants his Pirates side to play.
“So for me it’s the challenge. The challenge now to reduce the touches in a crowded area.”
There were encouraging signs of that approach in Pirates’ latest performance, particularly in their ability to manipulate the opposition’s defensive structure and switch play quickly.
Ouaddou singled out Thapelo Mokobodi, Mthetheleli Mthiyane and Simphiwe Selepe for their execution of the game plan.
“I wanted quickly to fix, especially today to fix the opponent in one side because they were shifting in one side, and quickly to switch opposite side. And I think Mokobodi, Mthiyane, Selepe did it very well.”
The performances of the younger players are particularly significant given the changes Pirates have experienced in their squad.
While Ouaddou accepts that rebuilding after losing established players takes time, he refuses to use the departures of Mofokeng and “Tito” as an excuse.
“We have to continue, but it’s a challenge when you are losing such important players. But my job is not to look for excuses. It’s to build, and to find solutions, and to keep bringing success and to win.”
That process, however, requires patience.
Ouaddou pointed out that Pirates have undergone significant changes, with the club losing several regular players and subsequently having to integrate younger and less experienced players into the team.
“It’s why sometimes, you know, people are a little bit, I think, hard, because they don’t understand that the process when you lose five or six players, regular players, and you lose them, and you have to rebuild again.”
The coach was candid about the expectations surrounding a club of Pirates’ stature, but stressed that rebuilding a competitive side cannot happen overnight.
“I’m not a magician. It took a little bit of time, and people sometimes they are not patient.”
Despite the challenges, Ouaddou believes Pirates are beginning to see the rewards of the work being done behind the scenes, particularly with the emergence of young players.
“But we start to see the fruit of our work with the young. We have to be patient as well.”
For now, the departures of Mofokeng and “Tito” represent another chapter in Pirates’ evolution. Ouaddou’s response, however, is clear: rather than trying to replace individuals, he intends to build a team capable of succeeding with the profiles at his disposal.
The early performances of Mokobodi, Mthiyane and Selepe offer evidence that the next generation is beginning to take its opportunity.
“I was happy with their performance today,” Ouaddou concluded.
Written by: Sandile Ndumo
