Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro feels there should not be an overreaction over their 3-2 loss against Stellenbosch, which marked their fifth league defeat of the season.
Pirates appeared in control of their final league game of 2023 at eSgodini on Friday evening but the Carling Knockout champions showed immense pedigree in the final half hour.
Tapelo Xoki’s penalty and Evidence Makgopa had Pirates 2-0 up at the hour mark but an eight-minute blitz from Iqraam Rayners, Devin Titus and Andre de Jong turned the game on it’s head, as Steve Barker’s side moved up to third place and Pirates dropped to fifth.
It was a second consecutive defeat for Pirates, in which they scored first, while conceding six goals in the process after the 3-1 loss to SuperSport United in Polokwane.
“Let’s not dramatise [the result] it’s a football match, we played very well for 70 minutes and didn’t play at the level required for 20 minutes and the opponent punished us,” Riveiro said when asked by iDiski Times if he’s self-critical of five defeats from 16 games.
“How do I say this without giving you a headline again… you don’t survive in the environment, in this context if you are not competitive – we all are, I’m not talking [specifically] about Pirates but professional football.
“So we as coaches, we don’t play one game and not get a result and then we play golf or watch movies – we take it very personally, sometimes too much, that’s why we spend a lot of time not to make the same mistakes.
“Help the players play how we want them to play, try and help the club achieve the objectives they are looking for and there are no other ways than being critical of yourself. But not today, even after winning, it’s the only way to improve.
“And personally, I’m permanently looking for improvement, it’s not an easy day or night, tomorrow won’t be an easy day, but yeah, somehow I’m used to it.”
