Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has revealed what he admires about the club’s head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou.
The French-Moroccan coach took over the reins at the Buccaneers after Jose Riveiro’s departure at the end of the previous season.
Despite facing early pressure after losing his first two Betway Premiership matches against Sekhukhune United and Marumo Gallants, he bounced back by guiding the club to MTN8 success.
Ncikazi praised Ouaddou for embracing his African roots, stating he admires that the coach views players through the lens of an African.
He also praised his strong work ethic and credited him for elevating the team’s performance from where it was last season.
“What I like about Ouaddou, he knows himself that he is from Africa, it’s important when we stand in front of players for them to see that he is theirs,” said Ncikazi.
“He knows that he is from Africa; he looks at the players with the eye of an African man. So, all the people at the club, he respects them in an African way.
“Not many coaches would agree to come to such a club without their own technical team members. That speaks to how much he trusts himself. You can look at it as if he is not smart, but I felt this man is coming here, he’s like, ‘I came alone, if you want to sabotage me, you can’.
“It hit me hard, and that’s how I saw what kind of a person he is. Even with his work, you can see he loves his job so much. He’s relevant, and at Pirates, we work hard. He came with different things tactically.
“Sometimes when you try something in the same way always, and sometimes it fails, you need to try a different way. When you look at our team, we were dominating possession, but sometimes we lose the match.
“But now, if you look at all the goals we have scored, it’s transition football. The likes of [Tshepang] Moremi, [Relebohile] Mofokeng, and [Oswin] Appollis, players are running. He also helps with the recovery; players are not cramping now. So, he does his job well.”
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