Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has spoken out following the exit of Patrick ‘Tito’Maswanganyi.
The 28-year-old joined Bahrain club Al-Khaldiya this week after three years with the Buccaneers.
Since Ouaddou took over at Pirates last year, he and Tito have clashed heads. Although the midfielder played in 38 matches under him, he only played a full match in six of those and whenever he had to come off the pitch, he often showed his unhappiness.
Their tension was highlighted through the Orlando Pirates documentary where Ouaddou asked Tito if he had a problem.
On Tuesday, the Pirates coach was asked about Maswanganyi.
“I have huge respect for this player for what he gave the club, the titles that he won,” notes Ouaddou as per Kickoff.
“I think he is a fantastic player, a gifted player, that every coach wants to have in his team.
“I think we had a difficult moment last season because he (takes) a little bit of time to understand what I was expecting from him about his involvement in the game, involvement in training.”
Ouaddou and Tito clashed often
“I always said that the job doesn’t start during the game,” Ouaddou added.
“Training is very important and starts at the beginning of the week and I was not happy about the way that he was training and I’m happy that he came with a fantastic behaviour on the 24th of June (start of pre-season) and fresh in every training.
“I think you have seen his potential at the beginning of this season.”
Ouaddou claimed that if Tito has listened to him, he would have made the Bafana Bafana squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The talented midfielder made the preliminary squad but failed to make the final 25-man squad.
“If he had listened to me last season he would have gone to the World Cup,” he said.
“Now, I want to wish him all the best for his new project, he is going abroad, it is not easy.
“He will have to be strong mentally especially in that area (Bahrain) because I played (Qatar) close to that country,” Ouaddou on Tito.