Josef Zinnbauer has hailed South African coaches Fadlu Davids, Darian Wilken, analyst Mueez Kajee, and German-born goalkeeper coach Stephan Loboue after Raja Athletic Club’s success.
Zinnbauer and his technical team secured the Botola Pro League title on the last day, pipping Kaizer Chiefs-linked Nasreddine Nabi‘s AS FAR to the title, and become Morocco’s first ‘invincible’ side – going unbeaten in a season.
The German tactician has previously worked with the South African duo of Davids and Wilken at Orlando Pirates, and said when one is leading big clubs like the Buccaneers and Raja who want success, they also need a strong team.
Zinnbauer told iDiski Times digital editor David Kappel in edition 159 of the newspaper that the fact that they have worked together was also beneficial.
“If you had a successful time before, and you know each other exactly what we want in terms of football, the system and philosophy,” Zinnbauer told iDiski Times.
“At Pirates, we had the same view in terms of football, we want to play offensive, we want to play quick transition, we want to score quick, we want to have a good defence. And this was the reason. If you want success, then you need good staff members and especially in big clubs like Raja.
“You can’t believe it, I had the experience in Germany, in Switzerland, in Russia and in South Africa in front of [nearly] 100,000 people. But if you have 20,000 or 50,000 in a stadium here, it sounds like 200,000. The supporters, they give us 90 minutes goose bumps. But it also creates pressure, and with this kind of pressure on the players we need good development.
“So you need professional guys like Darian and Fadlu, Mueez, the analyst is also from South Africa. With Stephan Loboue as a German goalkeeper coach. That’s the reason I fought for those guys. That’s why I wanted to bring them to Raja.”
