Orlando Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki has given an insight on the coach Jose Riveiro’s personality.
Xoki who joined Pirates last year from AmaZulu, was speaking to iDiski Times senior writer Velile Mnyandu in edition 90 of the newspaper.
The center-back’s arrival at the Buccaneers coincided with Riveiro’s and he described the Spanish tactician as someone who prioritises wellness of his players as people before demanding from them as athletes.
“He is a great mentor, very cool head, very calm and a father figure in a way,” he stated.
“He will scold you when he needs to, but he always makes sure that you are comfortable as well. He does care about your state of being as a person more than being a footballer.
“So he is someone who’s come with great leadership qualities together with his technical staff.
“All the coaches, goalkeeper coach, both assistant coaches and the fitness guys, everyone has been great for us in terms of leadership.
“They’ve made things easy for us. They keep us calm when things are not going our way, make us feel positive about the future even when we think we are in a crisis.
“They’ve never made us feel bad, they always make sure that you look at the positive and we follow the process that we are on.”
Riveiro, though, will not be on the sidelines in his side’s next two games after being sent off against All Stars in the Nedbank Cup last-32 clash, with assistant coaches Mandla Ncikazi and Sergio Almenara expected to be in charge of Pirates when they take on Maritzburg United on Friday and in next week’s Soweto Derby.
You can read Xoki’s full interview with Mnyandu for free on the iDiski Times website.
Source Link Pirates Star Gives Insight Into Riveiro’s Personality
