Abdeslam Ouaddou calls for patience after MTN8 triumph | OneFootball

Interview

Ouaddou urges patience after guiding Pirates to MTN8 glory

Photo: Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has made an impassioned plea after guiding the Soweto giants to MTN8 glory last Saturday.

The French-Moroccan tactician masterminded a 3-0 win over Stellenbosch FC, which saw Bucs retain the MTN8 title and claim the trophy for a record-extending fourth consecutive season in a row.

Reflecting on the triumph, Ouaddou says while it may be a norm for Pirates to be crowned top eight champions, the road to supremacy is not easy.

“We are happy because the club has been winning this trophy for many years, so for people it’s like it’s normal. But it’s not normal because you need to perform, you need to win games against Mamelodi Sundowns – it was not easy, it was very close as well against one of the best clubs in Africa,” he said.

“We played Stellenbosch, again a team that is part of the African [CAF] competitions. So, for me it was part of the process, I was not worried, maybe people were worried and had lot of doubts about the coach.

The former Marumo Gallants boss went on to address calls for his sacking last month after an unconvincing start to the league campaign, urging patience on his project.

“In football you need patience sometimes, when you come into a club that has 10 new players and you need to implement a philosophy, game model – I don’t say philosophy because Jose [Riveiro] did a very good job, so it’s important to keep the legacy but bring new weapon for the team to be more dangerous,” Ouaddou added.

“Sometimes it takes time and people don’t understand it and yes, we lost two games at the beginning of the season. You [media] are specialists of football; you are always at the stadium watching the games and you know how we lost those games. It’s not that we didn’t deserve to win,

“But straight away after two games people want to fire the coach. Do you think it’s the life of sport? Of course, there is a lot of pressure, but we are here to give our passion and to help the team to improve. And I am not speaking like this because we won the trophy.