Last season, Orlando Pirates struggled to defend set-pieces and paid the price as they fell against Pyramids in the semi-final of the Caf Champions League.
They conceded three goals against the eventual champions; the same problem was witnessed in the pre-season, notably in the 2-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in the Spanish tour. It was a major concern for the Buccaneers, ahead of the 2025/26 Premier Soccer League campaign.
Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, who took over from Jose Riveiro, has started working on the weakness, as confirmed by striker Tshegofatso Mabasa.
‘Ouaddou is also encouraging and similar to coach Jose'
“Coach Ouaddou is trying to improve the areas where we lacked last season; he is very demanding, [and] he loves his players at the same time,” he said as quoted by Sowetan.
“He is also encouraging and similar to coach Jose. There is not a lot that the coach is trying to change, just the way we defend our set pieces and how we deal with our transition as well. We lost the CAF Champions League because of the set play. We went to the Pyramids, and we conceded three goals from set piecesand we were out of the tournament.
“It’s very funny actually how we lost the Champions League on a set piece, but yet in the country, we were the best in terms of defending that. There are a lot of things that we have to take into consideration this season,” Mabasa continued.
How did the Spanish tour help Bucs' signings?
The Buccaneers have signed Sipho Mbule,, Yanela Mbuthuma (Richards Bay), Masindi Nemtajela (Marumo Gallants), Tshepang Moremi (AmaZulu), Nkosikhona Ndaba (Richards Bay), Sinoxolo Kwayiba (Chippa United), Tshepo Mashiloane (Baroka) and Sihle Nduli (Stellenbosch), Oswin Appollis (Polokwane City), Kamogelo Sibelebele (TS Galaxy) and Azola Tshobeni (Chippa United) ahead of the new season.
The majority were in Spain for pre-season, where Pirates played four games. They managed a win, a draw and two losses.
“The trip to Spain allowed us to integrate them [the new players] away from all the noise in the country. You look at [Sipho] Mbule, for example, his performance in the friendly games, you look at [Oswin] Appollis as well. Now it’s just for them to come back home and do it here,” Mabasa concluded.
Bucs will be in action on Saturday against Polokwane City in the quarter-final of MTN8 at Orlando Stadium.
