Orlando Pirates boss identifies major area of concern | OneFootball

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Ouaddou highlights area to improve

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Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has identified the lack of cutting edge in the final third as a major area of concern.

The Soweto giants were made to rue their missed opportunities as Mamelodi Sundowns emerged victorious in the top-of-the-table Betway Premiership clash on Wednesday.

Ouaddou raised eyebrows with his matchday squad, with Evidence Makgopa omitted from the team, paving way for Yanela Mbuthuma to lead the line, but he has since clarified the decision.

“First of all I have to specify that Makgopa could not be in the team yesterday because he was injured. So, he could not be in the team,” said the Bucs mentor.

On wasting chances in front of goals, the 47-year-old tactician reiterated the need to have a killer instinct, and stressed the importance of aligning with the club's philosophy of promoting and trusting the youth.

“But of course, it's an area of concern for me because if you have followed my previous press conferences a few months ago, we can see that it's an area that we must be efficient because it's the reality of football, when we want to be more ambitious, you need to be clinical,” Ouaddou added.

"And of course, we keep working and we don't stop working with the guys, but you have to understand as well that we have a young team, young strikers and I just mentioned it before - it's important when you develop the players, they have a potential. But you need to be patient with them.

"It's the philosophy of the club and we accept it, but if you want to maybe go quicker, you spend R10 million or R20 million and after maybe you will have somebody efficient from abroad. But the philosophy of the club is to promote young talent in the country and I'm sure there's a lot of talent in South Africa, and it's a policy that I respect. But at the same time you have to be very patient.

Pirates will swing back to action with a Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash against Motsepe Foundation Championship side Casric Stars at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday.