Jose Riveiro gives his verdict on Orlando Pirates’ youngsters

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has weighed in on the club’s development prospects and revealed when the Soweto giants’ young guns will get a run in the senior team.

Riveiro’s revelation comes after Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena gave a 16-year-old Siyabonga Mabena a first-team debut in the DStv Premiership.

Mabena joined a growing list of Sundowns youngsters to have been handed their debut by Mokwena this season. Others include Jerome Karelse, Ntando Nkosi, and Thando Buthelezi.

The teen star, Mabena, featured in Sundowns’ 5-1 thrashing of Royal AM on Tuesday, 14 March.

Mabena, who is a grade 10 pupil at Clapham High School in Pretoria, replaced fan favourite Themba Zwane in the second half and played for 19 minutes. He made a good impression at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

The teenage sensation is also in line to represent SA at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations.

He is part of coach Duncan Crowie’s 30-man preliminary squad for the U17 AFCON set to be hosted by Algeria from 29 April to 19 May 2023. Pirates have Xolani Tshaka in the U17 squad.

Jose Riveiro on YOUNGSTERS

With the trend of young players being given opportunities at different PSL clubs such as Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs continuing, Pirates mentor Riveiro has insinuated that none of the club’s youngsters are ready for first-team football.

Riveiro made it clear that he will only play youngsters when he feels they are ready to step up and contribute to the team’s success.

“The age is just a number at the end of the day; I mean, football is the same,” said the Spanish coach.

“As a European, age nowadays it is not a problem anymore, and the reason is the level of knowledge of the players that are 17, 18 years old.

“It is not only about the understanding of the game but sport education, like how to become a professional football player and how early they start to live like professional players in the elite academies [in Europe].

“And probably here [SA], we have differences between the clubs and the teams in the academies. We’re trying to do things in that way [European]. So the players can arrive at this stage of 18, 17, 19, 20 years old well prepared to do the step without any doubt or being afraid of failing.”

The Pirates mentor added that he won’t pick youngsters for the senior team to add numbers, reiterating that he wants them to add value.

“It’s easy to make numbers and play young players. And for me, as a coach, it could be also nice to play youngsters every time. I want to introduce one player when the result is done [win secured].

“Then I get the numbers, and you can say that Jose is really pushing the youngsters.

“But we need to play those guys when they are ready to make an impact and have continuity, not just hope. We need to be sure, and prepare those guys to have long careers [at professional level].

“It’s not easy though, but I can’t just play them and say ‘let’s see what happens’. However, in terms of my philosophy, I don’t care if he’s 30 or if he’s 20 or if he’s 18 as long as I feel that can be helpful for the club for the future of the club.

“That’s basically it, they need to be able to help or it will just be like I’m looking for a personal record, and I’m not looking for that,” he concluded.

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