As he waxes lyrical about his men’s on and off-the-ball movements, Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro feels there is something they are yet to fully grasp.
Orlando Pirates played out to a 0-0 draw against AmaZulu FC on Tuesday night, in a DStv Premiership match they dominated in most respects.
But the misfiring Sea Robbers could not breach the Usuthu and Bafana Bafana goalminder, Veli Mothwa.
And head coach Jose Riveiro is concerned by how his men have wasted clear-cut opportunities in the recent DStv Premiership games, where they dropped points willy-nilly.
Following their decent start to the 2023/24 campaign, the Soweto giants hit a low gear and have since dropped to 13th position.
As it stands, they have eight points on their tally after playing six league games. What perhaps gives them comfort is the fact that they have three games in hand.
WHAT JOSE RIVEIRO SAID AFTER THEY MISSED MULTIPLE CHANCES AGAINST AMAZULU FC
However, Riveiro has reiterated the fact that football ‘is not an almost scoring game’ to his players.
“This is not an almost-scoring game. If it’s an almost scoring game, then we are winning every game,” he said. “We need to capitalise and finish what we start. The guys are trying, we are doing a lot of things very well, and it’s something that will pay very soon rather than later.”
In six DStv Premiership matches, Orlando Pirates have won twice, drew twice and also lost twice.
They are exactly, 16 points behind pacesetters Sundowns who won all the eight matches they have played.
JOSE RIVEIRO’S TITLE ASPIRATIONS
Nevertheless, Riveiro, who has clinched all three knockout competitions, remains focused on the elusive league title, the most desired prize. He won the MTN8 twice and the Nedbank Cup since joining Pirates.
Prior to their clash with Usuthu, the Spaniard said all energies are on re-aligning their DStv Premiership title bid.
“The league is the most important competition, it goes without saying, 30 games, away and home, against everybody, every kind of circumstance,” said Riveiro.
“So, it’s the most important competition and we really want to find our rhythm in that competition too.
“It is a very particular situation [in which] we played in the last 65 or 66 days only two league games, which is very unusual. We’re trying to keep the level in every tournament we play, we’re trying to do our best.
“And it’s difficult mentally to face this amount of competitions in a short space of time. But, trust me, our intention is to be at the same level in our league games,” he said.
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