Orlando Pirates’ head coach, Jose Riveiro, has attributed his team’s struggles in the DStv Premiership to their lack of precision in front of the goal, a problem they also grappled with last season.
The Buccaneers kicked off the season in fine form, with Zakhele Lepasa and company scoring from all angles. However, in recent weeks, goals have become scarce, a recurring issue for both Pirates and their neighbors, Kaizer Chiefs.
Following their 2-1 defeat against the bottom-placed Cape Town Spurs on Wednesday night, the Spaniard emphasized that dominating possession becomes meaningless if his players cannot capitalize on goal-scoring opportunities.
“We experienced something different than in the recent games which is to be us, the ones who are chasing one goal. We are not used to concede those opportunities through that in the last game. We concede a couple of transitions early in the game against Polokwane City but today [Wednesday night] I think the feeling in the first minutes was different,” Riveiro said.
☠️ ⏪️ 𝗬𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗠 ⏪️
🏆 #DStvPrem
📆 01 November 2023
🏟 DHL Cape Town Stadium
⚽️ FT || @CapeTownSpursFC 2 – 1 @orlandopirates⚫️⚪️🔴⭐️#OrlandoPirates#OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/6SOEFj5wGR
— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) November 2, 2023
“What we do in the cup games is exactly the same. We don’t change the way of playing or our intentions but it’s true that for whatever reason we are finding more frequent the goal. Today [Wednesday night], trust me I’m not gonna be happy even with a good result because it’s a problem to start the games the way we did but we create more than enough to at least get a point in the worst case scenario in my opinion.
“But like I said many times, football is a scoring game, it’s not almost a scoring game. You get nothing with the possession, you get nothing with the attempts, you get nothing with entrances to the box if you don’t get the ball in.”