Riveiro hints at more attacking approach from Pirates amid fiery start

More depth, a slicker implementation of the game model and a hint of a more attacking approach in midfield are among factors in Orlando Pirates' fired-up start to the 2024-25 season, coach Jose Riveiro suggested.

The coach savoured what he said was the first time Pirates notched two wins in a row at the start of a league season since 2016 with their 3-0 Betway Premiership victory against Polokwane City at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

Evidence Makgopa's brace in the 85th and 91st minutes killed off the game. He started from the bench with Makhehlene Makhaula, Karim Kimvuidi and Nkosinathi Sibisi, who solidified Bucs’ push for victory in a second half where Monnapule Saleng gave them a 55th-minute lead.

Riveiro said Pirates’ bench has come to the party, helping to seal all four wins in a row in a punishing eight-day schedule that also saw them beat Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy home and away to reach the Caf Champions League group stage, and see off Chippa United in the Premiership.

“I’m happy with the contribution from the bench again. It was crucial in Botswana, crucial against Chippa too to come back after they scored. It was crucial in the second game against Jwaneng, and tonight it was exceptionally good,” he said.

“The [players] coming off the bench are showing they are ready to die for the team, even if they get a minute and that’s very good news for all of us. Evidence, the same as Karim, Sibisi — everyone involved is performing at the level we need in those moments of the game.”

Riveiro has had much to be pleased about at the start of the campaign, where Pirates have won seven and drawn two of nine league and cup games, and reaching the MTN8 final.

He stressed two wins in the league were too few to confirm Bucs have put behind their early-season jitters that resulted in 16 and 23-point gaps as runners-up to seven-time successive Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns. But Riveiro said his players were taking confidence from the positive start across competitions.

It was put to Riveiro that when his side battled to put away smaller-name sides last campaign, he was criticised for fielding two defensive midfielders, and that a system such as Tuesday's fielding of Thalente Mbatha deeper and Kabelo Dlamini as a “No 10” seem to be having positive results. “First, the concept of a defensive midfielder for me is not in my [orbit] — every midfielder is defensive when we don’t have the ball,” he responded.

“But I understand what you are saying. I think it’s more about the conditions and profile of the players who are on the field. What we try to do all the time is be a team that is balanced in every phase of the game. It’s easy to have the temptation, when you manage a squad like ours, to put your hopes only in the talent and capacity to play forward, the technical skill. You need balance too.

“The starting XI is always related to the game plan, and sometimes we need different kinds of profiles. Luckily, we have the possibility — most of the time, not always — to choose the right players, and in the end, the most important is that we compete.

“There's also an evolution in the team to understand better what the game is asking for, and today was one more proof of that. I think the contribution of Thalente and ‘KB’ [Dlamini] was exceptional, but then when Makhaula came in, he also played his part, controlling the game and giving us the possibility to control the spaces in front of [centrebacks] Olisah Ndah and ‘Pepe’ [Thabiso Sesane].

“The performances and [statistics] we are providing now are helpful to confirm we are working in the right way. But for someone who didn’t watch our games recently, but is checking their phone and see Pirates won 3-0 at home, they probably will think it was an easy game, we are playing fantastically and we are going to win everything this season.

“We know how difficult it is, how much we need to understand that the victories are coming because we are working so hard and, at the moment we don’t, we are not going to find ourselves in that space.”

Bucs meet Richards Bay next at King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Sunday (3pm).