Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says the age of players doesn’t determine if they are ready to contribute to the first team.
The Spaniard who comes from a coaching background of youth development with Celta Vigo was often lauded for his attack-minded game and ability to integrate young talent into senior football since he moved into senior management, which began in Finland.
He joined Pirates in 2022 and along with five trophies, they currently lead the league with seven wins from the opening seven games in the 2024/25 season, inspired by a youthful attacking duo of Mohau Nkota and Relebohile Mofokeng.
The 20-year-olds are graduates from the club’s DStv Diski Challenge squad have become regular features under Riveiro and he says there’s no secret to how young players can come in to hit the ground running.
“From the club perspective, the key, like any other in the world is recruitment, have a good scouting structure in order to have the capacity to accumulate talent in your development, and then from my point, I don’t see players as youngsters,” Riveiro said.
“I don’t see youngsters or experienced players; they are good, or they are not good enough. They are ready or they are not ready. It’s convenient or not convenient for the game, it’s not about when he was born, or whether he is 20, 19, or 22 – it doesn’t make a big difference.
“When the player is ready, he is ready, when the player is talented, he is talented, and that’s the system itself, you play them, or you don’t play them. It’s simple – and people usually talk about taking the risk of playing a young player.
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“For me, the risk is when you play a player who is not ready, whether he is 30 or 20, in our case, the boys are showing they are ready and they are capable of surviving in different environments so far. We are happy and we are glad and clearly inspiring more youngsters in our structures to be ready because age is not going to be a problem if they are ready.”
Nkota and Mofokeng will be aiming to continue their impressive form when Pirates host Stellenbosch at Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon (15h30).
