Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says they are attempting various changes to try and get back to goalscoring form.
Before their 1-0 win over Sekhukhune United on Tuesday evening at Orlando Stadium, the Buccaneers were on a four-match winless run.
And in this indifferent run of form, they have scored six goals in their last 12 games, which has prompted suggestions they may need to look towards a strikers coach again – as Scott Chickleday made a notable impact during his brief one-month stint last season.
Pirates struggled for consistency at the same stage of the season in the Riveiro’s debut campaign before they came back strong to finish second in the league and win the Nedbank Cup after the early-season honour of the MTN8.
“We try to, the players have more relevance in the way of playing than coaches in general, I try to adapt the game plan and all the things we do, depending on who is on the field, we are not, or I’m not dogmatic,” Riveiro said with a huge sigh when asked about the potential need for a striker’s coach again.
“There’s always little adaptations, whether we play with Kimvudi as a 10, or Romeo, so we tried to mitigate our problems, or obstacles let’s say – tried to find other ways to score goals – it came in a combination in the central corridor, full of quality, talent of players to combine with one-twos in areas where we want.
“But sometimes we need to open the field, use 70 meters, play crosses, have a presence in the box, so we try to always find different ways [to score] depending who’s on the field, I’m not worried, concerned with the situation [of goals].
“We need to score earlier in games because when you go to the last 30 minutes, with the quality in the league, games are broken, we’ve been in those scenarios, so we need to find the net earlier in games – and the same answer is useful to your second question.”
The second question was based on whether Melusi Buthelezi over Sipho Chaine in goals changed their style of play – and while Riveiro breathed a collective sigh of relief with his squad after the win, Kaizer Chiefs now awaits in the Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
