Ouaddou praises unity, wants Pirates to grow in strength through the season

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou hopes their team spirit will continue to progress until the end of the season after their impressive recent run across all competitions.

The Buccaneers continued their strong form with their 2-0 win against TS Galaxy at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday to move to third place in the Betway Premiership table with 15 points from seven matches.

They dominated for most of the game, but their supporters only celebrated the two goals by Evidence Makgopa with a 20th-minute penalty and Tshegofatso Mabasa in the fourth minute of added time.

Ouaddou was pleased with the performance.

“You can win the match with 11 players but if you want to win the league and competitions, you need the group. Every time I start the job in a club, I never speak about my game model at the beginning of the first session,” Ouaddou said in his post-match press conference.

“My priority is regarding the values. It is very important because that is the foundation of every project. If you don’t have strong values in the project, it can be destroyed in the middle of the season.”

Ouaddou was full of praise for his players and said the togetherness they have will see them become more successful.

“It was a very difficult game, as we expected it to be. But I’m happy with the team spirit, the unity and the solidarity of my players. We knew the opponents would come at us with a lot of ambitions to bother us at home.

“We played well, the players respected our plans and I’m happy for the victory. It helped us grab some points and to be close to the teams at the top. That’s what we wanted. We keep going and working and I hope my team will keep this spirit until the end of the season.”

The Buccaneers have kept four clean sheets in their five Premiership wins in a row, conceding one goal. Former Morocco international centre back Ouaddou insists his focus is not only on defence but also other departments.

“I’m not only focusing on defence. With football, I see it with my own vision — you have to be efficient in the area of the two boxes. It is essential for me, even if we score three or four goals, to be cautious about how to defend.

“I played 17 years at the highest level, so I had all the time in the game. I had a lot of expectations when I was playing with my strikers. I’m trying to use my experience as a player to bring it to my club here.”

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