Abdeslam Ouaddou cut a forlorn figure in the auditorium press room at Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening as reality set in about what could lie ahead in his new job with Orlando Pirates.
Ouaddou's posture after his club's 1-0 defeat in their opening Betway Premiership match against Sekhukhune United was vastly different to what we had come to observe since his arrival as a successor to Jose Riveiro.
The questions many will now have is whether the 46-year-old former Moroccan international will survive the coming week, which will end with Mamelodi Sundowns' visiting Orlando for the first leg of the MTN8 semifinal.
Will Ouaddou be still in his seat if he doesn't collect maximum points away to his former team Marumo Gallants on Tuesday, and on top of that fail to avoid a second successive defeat in a week in Orlando against Sundowns in the cup match?
The loss against Sekhukhune came barely a week after Ouaddou had seen his team dominating Polokwane City when they knocked them 2-0 in the MTN8 quarterfinal. That victory had created hope that his troops won't let the Bucs faithful down, especially in a season in which they have great hope of finally wrestling the league title from Sundowns — the side Bucs have finished as runners-up to in the last three seasons.
Saturday's result has raised a lot of questions about Ouaddou's suitability to end Sundowns' reign that has seen them winning the league in the last eight seasons. There were plenty of tears shed on the stands in Orlando on Saturday as some Bucs fans couldn't stomach yet another defeat against this Limpopo side that also proved to be a great pain to Pirates during Riveiro's tenure.
In six previous league ties between these sides, Sekhukhune was the most dominant, winning three, drawing one and losing two against Pirates. Ouaddou should have been warned it was never going to be a walkover against Eric Tinkler's team that also defeated Pirates 1-0 in Orlando towards the end of last season.
Someone (maybe long-time club assistant Mandla Ncikazi) should have whispered in Ouaddou's ear that perhaps there was not much fixing he needed to do in the starting line-up that Riveiro had last season — maybe just one or two tweaks would have worked.
But Ouaddou, who came to Pirates having had stints in Algeria (Mouloudia), Benin (Loto FC) and in DR Congo (AS Vita), pressed on with his vast changes against Sekhukhune.
As a result of Ouaddou's changes Pirates lacked a finisher as Boitumelo Raidopane's first touch continued to show he might not yet be ready to be ahead of Tshegofatso Mabasa, Pirates' top scorer in the previous two seasons. Ouaddou has preferred to keep Mabasa on the stands in his first two official games.
There was also nothing wrong with Deano van Rooyen at right back, but Ouaddou has apparently not seen the former Stellenbosch FC player's quality as he's instead used Bandile Shandu (against Polokwane) and new signing from Baroka FC Tshepo Mashiloane against Sekhukhune in his place. That decision has not looked good as both players are lagging behind when it comes to Van Rooyen's understanding of the game and are not as accurate with their passes and crosses.
It is, however, in the midfield where Ouaddou has got things completely mixed up, especially with his decision to keep Thalente Mbatha on the stands while playing the flashy Sipho Mbule in a defensive midfield role. Mbule has been paired with another new signing, Sihle Nduli, who actually had a great game against Sekhukhune but lacked a player of Mbatha's quality to complement him.
Not that it is wrong to play Mbule, but for now Ouaddou is playing him in the wrong spot as he's decided to field him at the same position as Patrick Maswanganyi, who is always floating in a playmaker role that he should perhaps share (not at the same time) with Mbule. With Mbatha and the injured Makhehlene Makhaula absent in first two official matches this season, Bucs' defence has looked vulnerable when they've lost the ball as it is only Nduli who can help.
Ouaddou's well-intentioned plan finally backfired against Sekhukhune, a team with better players, wily and with an experienced coach in Tinkler. The Pirates coach has a few days to fix the problem, but perhaps the first thing to do is reduce his squad, which has ballooned to over 40 after the acquisition of more than 10 new players during the off-season.
“It's [the squad size] sometimes a challenge,” Ouaddou said when asked about the number of players he has at his disposal ahead of Saturday's match against Sekhukhune.
“In my previous clubs I usually worked with between 25, 28 players. Why, because in terms of management it's important to keep everybody involved [and happy]. The challenge is when you have maybe 40 players. It becomes difficult because you can't be efficient in your work. You cannot go direct to the point. You need to make a lot of rotations in training, and you have to accommodate everybody and try to think about the rotation instead of putting your focus in your main team.”
Could the squad size be a reason Ouaddou has not had time to see value in players like Mbatha, Mabasa and Van Rooyen? If that's the case, then Pirates need to embark on a similar route Sundowns are undergoing — that of drastically reducing their squad.
If Pirates fail to fix their numbers Ouaddou will continue to be as confused as everyone as to who he should actually play or put on the bench on match day.
Cutting his squad to a manageable size will go a long way in helping Ouaddou stay longer in Bucs' hot seat. Anything less could prove disastrous to both him and Pirates.
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