Abdeslam Ouaddou sheds light on his team selection | OneFootball

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Ouaddou explains team selection

Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackPagePix

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has shed light on his team selection, with some of his decisions often raising eyebrows within the Bucs faithful.

The Moroccan mentor started youngster Cemran Dansin in the heart of midfield ahead of Thalente Mbatha, Patrick Maswanganyi and Sipho Mbule against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

Notably, the starlet scored a stunning volley to salvage a point for Pirates, much to the delight of Ouaddou, who stressed the importance of squad rotation and trusting all the players at his disposal.

“I have faith of all my players. I think you have seen how I'm working since the beginning of the season. I try to rotate the players because we are playing many competitions, so I have a faith of all my players. Today [Saturday] I decided to give a chance to some players,” he said.

"The idea as well was to all the time bring some freshness because you have seen that we are playing every three days with high intensity very important games and at the same time as an educator, not as a coach, I want to protect the physicality of my players because I need them all the season.

The 47-year-old tactician highlighted the importance of using each and every player to great effect, stating that major honors are won with a group of players in contrast to a 90-minute match.

“You have to trust them, you have to show them that you trust them, you have to give them chance - It's what we are doing. I told you that if you don't trust the group of your players, it can be difficult to manage your group and it's a group that can make you win a competition,” Ouaddou added.

"You can win a game with 11 players but if you want to win titles you need to trust all your group, it's what we are doing with Orlando Pirates. The mentality is good and we have to continue like that.