Pirates coach Riveiro has not thrown in the towel on the league title

“Are we giving up? Never!”

That’s what Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro told the media on Wednesday ahead of his side’s DStv Premiership encounter against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

The Buccaneers are experiencing a bad run of results in the league having lost their last three matches against Kaizer Chiefs (1-0), Mamelodi Sundowns (2-0) and Cape Town City (2-1).

These results have seen Riveiro’s team drop to the eighth spot on the log and 21 points behind log leaders Sundowns.

But despite firing blanks, the Spanish-born Pirates coach insisted that he’s far from throwing in the towel on the league race.  

“We all go through different moments in a season and that’s why the winner in the end is the one who manages to do better in moments you’re not your best. At this moment there’s a team (Sundowns) that has a big advantage. It’s going to be tough for all of us even to get close to that.

“This is a competition and we’re competitive people. We’ll never give up.

“But like I said, I don’t think SuperSport (United) will give up or (Kaizer) Chiefs or anybody else. It’s a competition and we’ll go all the way until the end. There’s going to be moments where teams may reduce the distance (between themselves and Sundowns). That’s the objective right now, to collect the next three points.  

“I’m 100% honest if I say I don’t know who is going to be second, third or fourth at this moment because I’m trying to make sure that we collect the three points so that we can start to climb the mountain.”

Riveiro added that in the last three league games that Pirates lost, especially the last two against Sundowns and City, his team had plenty of opportunities to win.      

“We were not good enough to dream about getting three points against Sundowns, but there were moments in the  game where both teams could get the lead and they didn’t.

“And we played in Cape Town (against City) a few days ago, and it really makes me feel happy and optimistic about the future of this group because the level of performance.

“The result was impossible for different reasons and these things happen. But we won’t change the direction. We’re trying to get better week after week and it’s a process. I understand that you guys (media) are looking for a result, it’s fine.

“But we’re trying to go deeper and trying to think what’s going to happen in advance, in the medium and long-term as well. It won’t be tomorrow. Every time when we’re not getting a result it’s usually a bad decision. We have to insist on things that we believe and that’s the way to get the good results.”

The Bucs coach said it is pointless for him to keep looking at how their rivals are doing.

“I’m not thinking about any other team. I’m not thinking about Sundowns or SuperSport or Richards Bay. We’re just focusing on ourselves.”

Arrows is the last team that Pirates beat in the league back in October, winning 2-0 in Durban with Monnapule Saleng getting a brace.