Former Orlando Pirates striker Katlego Mashego has defended Jose Riveiro’s ‘non-rotation’ policy after they suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns this past weekend.
Pirates were no match to a superior Sundowns outfit who raced into a 2-0 halftime lead before completing the rout in the second period to extend their lead at the top to nine points.
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Speaking to Thabiso Mosia on Game On, ‘Mahoota’ leapt to Riveiro’s defense for not tinkering with his system as he believes those where the best players the coach had at his disposal on the day.
“The coach believes in a certain 11 or about 12 to 13 players and he always does that,” Mashego said.
“Judging from what I’ve seen, he’s not a big fan of rotation and I think when he rotates or when he brings the other players that are in the squad, he feels or he knows that the team is not gonna be the same.
“So, if we’re being brutally honest, that was the best Orlando Pirates 11 that was available on the day because you had [Thalente] Mbatha who was suspended and [Olisa] Ndah is out injured, [Thabiso] Sesane also is out for various reasons.
“I think that was the best 11 players that were available for Orlando Pirates on the day. I don’t think they could’ve went to their bench or went to take one or two players that were not in the squad to start the game.
“That was the best available Orlando Pirates 11.”
The former Sundowns frontman also admitted that he could sense a big scoreline with how the Brazilians took control of the match earlier on.
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“I got a little bit worried when the game started,” he continued.
“I think the first 20 minutes Sundowns were just dominant, and I was sitting with these other guys, and I told them, ‘You know, in this game, the score might be four or five the way things are going’.
“Because I looked at the game and said to myself Sundowns were just dominant. They dictated the game especially the first 20 minutes.
“It looked scary but then Pirates came back in the second half. In the first 10 minutes of the second half they were a bit fighting and they showed the fight and all that.
“But it was always gonna to be a Mamelodi Sundowns win, I mean player for player if you compare both teams, I think Sundowns comes out on top.”
