Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has defended his strong selection for the starting line-up against Durban City, saying he wants to win the competitions and not run the risk of needing eight bodyguards again like last campaign.
In the beginning of 2025/26, Ouaddou started with two defeats and there were already murmurs of him being sacked before he eventually turned things around.
This campaign, Pirates have started with a 2-0 win over Milford FC in the league and Saturday’s 2-1 extra-time win in the MTN8.
When quizzed whether the MTN8 is a priority for him, Ouaddou insisted that there are strong expectations from the club’s management and fans to bring home silverware, so only players deserving to start will be picked.
“No, no, me. I’m not here to give flowers to to people. We are not in the circus. We are in a professional ecosystem,” he said after the match.
“There is a lot of expectations. If you want me to remind you my two first games last season, you feel that I was happy to have eight bodyguards around me?
“So I want to win. I want to win games. Of course, I want to put the strongest team because there is a lot of expectations. The fans they want to win that competition. The club want to win it. It’s not easy.
“I want to win it as well. So I need to put strong team, and the players who deserve to play because they show in training, they show in the preparation.
“There is nothing guaranteed, and it’s how we push the players to have competition.
“But I’m not here to give flowers, because when you lose two three games, who is in the in the headlines?”