Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro admits there’s been some games in his debut season that have taken him by surprise in the DStv Premiership this season.
The Spaniard has enjoyed a solid first season in South Africa, after arriving as a relatively unknown figure to the general South African football public and has secured the MTN8 title, Nedbank Cup final spot, and on the brink of securing CAF Champions League.
Perhaps trailing Mamelodi Sundowns by 19 points, albeit with a game in hand, is the biggest downside of his stint thus far but when asked by iDiski Times what he’s made of the tactical talent from the coaches in the league, he admitted it’s something he needed to get used to.
“It’s… there a big difference, to be honest, there are games that are really tactical and there are others that aren’t tactical at all,” Riveiro said when asked about the coaching quality he’s experienced in the DStv Premiership.
“The main difference I noticed and I think I mentioned it earlier this season is that there’s always moments in the game at PSL that it’s very difficult to control the game from a coaching perspective.
“It could be for the spectators that it’s more fun… funny, because there’s chances, very quick, [end to end]. But personally as a coach, sometimes I suffer a bit in those moments but because of the quality we have, those moments are usually good for us.
“When it’s [end-to-end] we have the opportunity to punch, usually we punish [teams], but then the way to approach games is a bit different in Europe, I’m not going to lie but there are games [that are] complicated from the tactical perspective as well.
“I’m not the one to evaluate my colleagues but there’s talent also on the benches in the PSL, it’s not a discussion.”
Pirates host Sekhukhune United with CAF Champions League football on the line on Saturday for their final league game at Orlando Stadium for the 2022/23 season at 15h00.
