Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has revealed that they lost the title race in December when they lost back-to-back fixtures against SuperSport United and Stellenbosch FC.
The Buccaneers reached their second successive Nedbank Cup semi-final after coming from a goal behind to defeat AmaZulu 4-2 at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. Riveiro is yet to lose a Nedbank Cup match since he arrived at Pirates.
Pirates have a chance to complete another double after clinching the MTN8 in October. But in the league, they remain 15 points behind Mamelodi Sundowns who have three games in hand.
Many thought the Buccaneers could challenge Masandawana to the title after completing a cup double last season, and Riveiro insisted they need to learn to perform in every game.
“It’s difficult we working on it trust me. I think in December we had a bad a week we lost against SuperSport United one game that we were leading, then we played in Orlando against Stellenbosch we were leading 2-0 after 70 minutes we lost 3-2,” Riveiro told the media.
“That moment everything start to look like really bad, but I think the team in that moment was really good we were not that far but we lost a little bit breather with the top of the table but again 2024 we lost one game against Sekhukhune United.
“We had a really bad 30 minutes in Polokwane and we lost to Sekhukhune United. But apart from that game, the guys are doing a good job but again it’s difficult, it’s difficult.
“You want to compare us with the top, it’s fine but it’s a difficult thing. The reasons it’s not only one reason there’s multiple. I think little by little we are growing as a group, as a team to have the capacity to compete everyday and not having distractions, not thinking this game is more important than the next one.
“Because in this environment we have to play many different competitions during the season. Sometimes they happening at the same time, Champions League, MTN8, DStv Premiership and we [have to be] in the capacity to perform in each and every game and in each and every competition, that is probably a thing that we need to learn to do better because the thing is the same when they play MTN8, when they play the league, it’s the same but the outcome is not the same.
“So probably it’s one of the things we need to improve in the future if we wan to competitive in every competition.”
