Orlando Pirates are top of the log after a 2-0 win over AmaZulu, but coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is making one thing clear: his strikers aren’t just there to camp in the box.
Following Tshegofatso Mabasa’s shock exit to join Stellenbosch FC on loan, the 47-year-old French-Moroccan coach has created a fierce competition between Evidence Makgopa, Yanela Mbuthuma and Boitumelo Radiopane for the Orlando Pirates number nine jersey.
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ABDESLAM OUADDOU EXPLAINS HIS DEMANDS
“When we are pressing, we have to recover the ball together,” Ouaddou told journalists. “People try to understand why we are so strong.
“We are so strong because everybody is working in our team, it’s not only the back-four,” Ouaddou added.
Yanela Mbuthuma, who started in the club’s last two games, is exactly the type of forward Ouaddou wants at Orlando Pirates.
The former Richards Bay youngster has scored five goals in 14, Makgopa has grabbed four goals and three assists, while Radiopane, recovering from injury, has one goal that came in the Carling Black Label Cup friendly.
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“We are using him well, like the other players,” Ouaddou said. “We have some talen, Radiopane, Mbuthuma, Makgopa… They are all good players that we can use.”
The Orlando Pirates coach explained his philosophy: strikers must be mobile, defend, and make runs without the ball. “
“Some people think that they’re only here in the box just to score, but this kind of football is finished. The modern football, you have to be efficient with the ball, you have to be efficient in the box, you have to be mobile, you have to play with the ball when we find you in the pocket, you have to make runs without the ball.”
NO-NEGOTIABLE CONDITION FOR ORLANDO PIRATES STRIKERS
Ouaddou stressed the consequences for those who don’t adapt. “Somebody who cannot do this, who maybe is lazy, he cannot play high-level football..
“He cannot play in my team because the game model is asking a little bit more than staying and putting the tent in the box and waiting for the ball,” Ouaddou concluded.
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