Orlando Pirates have had a largely successful two-and-a-half seasons under coach Jose Riveiro
Riveiro has won five trophies with Pirates since arriving at the club and has endeared himself to the fans.
What also makes his time even more impressive at Pirates, has been his knack for giving hidden talent a chance. Three seasons ago Riveiro was key in keeping previously out of favour winger Monnapule Saleng at the club. This after an impressive loan spell at Moroka Swallows in the first division. After biding his time, he became a regular for the Buccaneers and even came close to winning Player of the Season. He also became a feature of Hugo Broos’ Bafana Bafana squad.
Riveiro has made Saleng and Maswanganyi a success at
The next season, Riveiro would almost replicate that with Patrick Maswanganyi who joined Pirates from SuperSport United. With many expecting the playmaker to fight for his place first, he was throw straight in and never looked back. He started racking up the Man of the Match accolades, became a fan favourite and a Player of the Season nominee. He is also now a fully fledged member of the Bafana squad.
Now despite Riveiro’s faith in the left-footed duo, both have been rumoured to have misbehaved. This comes after both Saleng and Maswanganyi were dropped from more than one match day squad. For the former, ‘personal matters’ and the latter ‘ health issue’ was cited as the reason. But for former Pirates player Lebohang ‘Cheeseboy’ Mokoena, that is a cover up!
Are the duo misbehaving at Pirates?
“I’ll talk about Tito (Maswanganyi) and Saleng, they know they are key to the team (Pirates), so whatever issue or reason that may affect them, they should just put it aside, think about that badge! And say you know what, I’m here to make history at this club but these boys… one back page, one interview, now I come late, I’m sleeping late. Now, I answer the coach back, because the coach has always protected the players. Internally as a coach, he would probably hammer some of the players. I think coach Riveiro must just step it up a bit, especially on the players he knows he needs. We don’t have senior guys who can call players in, (and say) ‘You’re disrupting the team!’ That’s why you fnd performances like this, the team struggling to score,” Mokoena said to SoccerBeat YouTube Channelas per Soccer-Laduma.
Pirates fans do you think Riveiro is covering up for Saleng and Maswanganyi? Do you believe they’re misbehaving? Feel free to leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments below.
