Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela could not hide his delight by the recent switch to a back-four again under head coach Jose Riveiro.
Pirates started the season with a back-three, with Maela playing on the left side of the central trio which earned him a recall to the Bafana Bafana squad.
Despite some impressive performances in the role, it appears the 30-year-old is relishing the opportunity to play in his natural position.
“Thank you for asking the question, it’s true we’ve had tactical flexibility on how we’ve approached matches,” Maela said when asked by iDiski Times about the tactical switch over the last month.
“Different matches need different tactics and as a player, you need to adapt. Gone are the days when a player only plays on position – you know these days it’s about having positional awareness, knowing your responsibility for a particular role where you find yourself on the pitch.
“So yeah, I truly enjoy playing in a back-four because I get to play left-back again, but in the previous match, I also played [left] center-back. So every match requires different tactics, and whatever the coach puts ahead, we trust him, we trust the process, we go out there and perform to the best of our abilities.”
Pirates take on Chiefs on Saturday at the FNB Stadium for the highly-anticipated Soweto Derby at 15h30.
