The toughest PSL team: that's what Riveiro wants for Pirates

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro plans to turn the sleeping Soweto giant into one of the most feared teams in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

Riveiro joined Pirates with the daunting mission of bringing back happy days to the 85-year-old club, which has performed poorly in the past few seasons.

The Spaniard has had a decent start in the DStv Premiership — Pirates are top of the log after six outings.

However, his team still needs to put in an extra shift up front, where they have been lacking.

Riveiro has shared how he would like Pirates to play, but said it might take time due to the high number of games they are playing in a short period.

“Our style of play is to create a situation where we can dominate the game through possession, but while trying to be as vertical as possible and arrive in the box as quick as possible when we have the advantage,” he said.

“We want to play at a high tempo, which is difficult this month when we are playing after every two, three days. We are trying to be competitive in every phase.

“There are moments when we have the ball [that] we try to be a difficult team for the opponents, and also there are moments when we are a difficult team to play against when we don’t have the ball,” he said.

“We want to be a team that no-one wants to have in front (of them). Even on our worst day we want to be a competitive team and fight for the result with all of our capacity.”

Riveiro will be involved in his first cup competition when Pirates face Royal AM in the MTN8 quarterfinal at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban on Saturday (6pm).

“Obviously when you are representing a club such as Pirates you know what it means and what the people are expecting,” he said.

“We are going to do our best in this tournament because it’s an opportunity to add something to the club's history. The pressure is there and for me it’s something positive.”