‘We can do better,’ says Pirates coach Riveiro as he shifts focus to Sundowns

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is happy with how his team is performing but says there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Eight games into the 2022-23 DStv Premiership season Riveiro’s men are second on the log with 14 points after their 2-0 win over TS Galaxy at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Zakhele Lepasa scored a brace against Galaxy as Pirates returned to winning ways in the league after a 1-0 defeat away to Maritzburg United last Sunday.

Pirates, who have a break from competitive football for the rest of September, are two points behind leader Mamelodi Sundowns.

“I think the result should have been better. Yes, we are in a good position but I would have liked to have more points than 14. We planned to get more points than we have at the moment,” Riveiro said.

“But there’s nothing we can do now, we have to look to the future. It’s much easier for us to prepare for the next game because we have this break.

“This is what we want, to bounce back after defeat. It’s crucial. I’m happy, but I think we can still improve because this team is really big and we have not reached our best.”

The coach, in his first season in the Premiership, feels he is understanding his players better and has been able to work out a few combinations.

Pirates will return to competitive action with what promises to be a humdinger when they host Sundowns in the first leg of their MTN8 semifinal on Saturday, October 1.

Riveiro believes the break before such a big game will afford him and his technical team time to iron out a few things.

“It’s a good time to do a deep analysis about what we were doing during these past six weeks, make the conclusions and make sure we know where we are with our approach because this is a long-term project that we have started,” he said.

“There’s a lot of things to analyse and try to implement during these weeks.

“As a coach, I would like to have more time to train and for a team like us, we really trust in the training process and what we do during the week.

“We have a chance to enjoy these full weeks before we face our next opponent. [The break] is something very positive for us.

“We will have time for everything and also a short, well-deserved rest for the boys, but we are going to use the time properly because we are still hungry. We are going to play the next game being in a very good condition.”

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