Pirates’ Ouaddou admits to a near-costly mistake in Soweto derby
· Citizen
Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has admitted to making a tactical mistake that could have cost him a win against Kaizer Chiefs.
However, goals from Yanela Mbuthuma and Tshepang Moremi earned the Buccaneers a 2-1 victory over Amakhosi in the Soweto derby at the FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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Speaking after the game, Ouaddou revealed he tried to surprise Chiefs by using Deon Hotto as a right-back, but admitted that his plan was not that successful.
“I think this one I will take the blame, and this time I will not blame my players. We have to blame the coach for the first half. I got it wrong,” said Ouaddou after the game.
“When I told you about a surprise, it was (Deon) Hotto at right-back, but I cannot tell you it was successful, so I don’t know if I have to talk about the tactics. But we tried something because he has experience; he has played left-back. We said maybe as a right-back we were looking for a solution and not him, but I think it was not successful; that’s why we changed after,” added Ouaddou.
Ouaddou also explained why he decided to start with Hotto at right-back instead of Bulelani Sigomoshe, who had done well in that position in previous games.
“A player who was doing well in the previous games was Sigomoshe. It took me until the last minute to decide to put Hotto there because of his experience. Since the opponent on his side was right-footed, I thought it could work to stop him and also protect Sigomoshe, as he performed well in the last games. I am happy for someone to integrate so easily coming from Milford to such a big club,” concluded Ouaddou.