Abdeslam Ouaddou reveals stance on Radiopane, dissects his ideal striker | OneFootball

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Ouaddou on Radiopane, ideal striker

Photo: psl.co.za

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has revealed his stance on Boitumelo Radiopane and broke down the ideal striker he prefers to have at his disposal.

The 23-year-old center-forward led the line for the Soweto giants at the beginning of the season but struggled to find the back of the net, which sparked murmurs of discontent among the Bucs faithful.

As a result, Radiopane was excluded from the subsequent matchday squads, but the former Marumo Gallants boss has since shed light that the player suffered an injury - indicating the Pirates academy product retains the backing of his coach.

“Radiopane is one young player among many other that have been doing well. He had a fantastic preparation in Spain [pre-season camp]. If you remember we started him at the beginning of the season, afterwards he had some injury problems,” Ouaddou said.

"We had to protect him and when you give a chance to another striker who's scoring, it's difficult to change and like I have said, we are putting players, especially strikers, according to the profile of the opponents we are going to play.

Ouaddou went on to outline the type of striker he prefers to lead the line in his system, stressing the importance of adequate work rate off the ball despite playing up top.

“I have said that in the game model I need from my strikers, more than goals. Of course, the goals are very important but in the competencies and qualities of the striker, I'm looking for some more as well - scoring but I need you to be very efficient without the ball as well,” he added.

"Without the ball it means when we don't have the ball you have to work because the ball will not only be recovered by the four players at the back. We need the involvement and commitment of everybody in the team

"And fortunately, I always say to my strikers, if you don't participate, if you don't want to put effort to help us to recover the ball together and to participate to the strength of the team, it will be difficult [to play], and they have to integrate that quickly because the modern football, you cannot only wait for the ball in the box and to score - the football has evolved.