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Riveiro has already cemented place among Pirates greats

football06 November 2024 12:00| © Mzansi Football
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Jose Riveiro has emerged as the man with the Midas touch at Orlando Pirates and after leading the side to their best league start in the Premier Soccer League era and a third successive MTN8 title this campaign, continues to rack up the milestones.

He took charge of his 100th match in Tuesday’s 1-0 Betway Premiership victory over Richards Bay that maintained his side’s 100% start to the season after seven matches to put early pressure on Mamelodi Sundowns in the title race.

There is a long way to go, but Riveiro, now in his third season with the club, has them purring and in their best period of form since the famous ‘Double Treble’ years between 2010 and 2012 when they collected six trophies in two seasons.

Only Ruud Krol (116) and Micho Sredojevic (107) have taken charge of more games than Riveiro at the club in the PSL era. In fact, Krol is the only coach in the club’s history to complete three seasons with the team.

Surely Riveiro will do that … but he will already go down as one of the greatest tacticians in the club’s history.

He claimed yet another milestone this season when he led Pirates to a third successive MTN8 title, the first time a club or coach has managed that in South African football. He won back-to-back Nedbank Cup titles in 2022 and 2023, and will be gunning for a hat-trick in that competition too.

Riveiro has also led Pirates to consecutive second-place finishes in the Premiership, behind only all-conquering Sundowns, and if he can go one better this term it will be among the great achievements in the local game given the resources he is up against.

From his first words on being appointed coach, he spoke of competing for “higher goals”, and he has lived up to that promise.

“I am delighted to have joined the club,” he said upon arrival. “The Pirates project is an exciting one and I look forward to what lies ahead. It is an honour for me and my colleagues to have the responsibility to coach such an institution and compete for the highest goals.

“We are going to work to make history together and build a team that we are all proud of.”

The 49-year-old arrived in Soweto at the start of the 2022/23 season following a three-year spell with Finnish side Inter Turku. He took them to a runners-up spot in the league in his first season, which sealed their first European club competition campaign in six years.

He won 56 of his 102 games in charge of the side, or a shade under 55%, a record he has since bettered at Pirates. His 100 games for The Buccaneers have resulted in 62 wins, with 17 draws and 21 defeats. Pirates have scored 178 goals and conceded 82 during his time at the club.

His one frustration, looking back, will be how many of those 21 defeats came in games the side would have been expected to win.

He has beaten Sundowns in an MTN8 and Nedbank Cup final, as well as in the semifinals of the top eight competition, but suffered unexpected defeats to Magesi FC, Richards Bay, TS Galaxy and Jwaneng Galaxy in the CAF Champions League.

No disrespect to any of those sides, who were worthy winners on the day, but the results are filed under ‘shock defeats’ and there have been a few too many. But let that not take away from his multitude of achievements, which goes beyond just trophies.

Prior to his arrival, Pirates had won two pieces of silverware in a decade – the 2014 Nedbank Cup and 2020 MTN8. They had been through 10 different coaching changes in that time and lacked stability. 

Riveiro, with his calm demeanour, has been responsible for injecting youth into the squad, and bringing through some of the most exciting talents in the local game.

Relebohile Mofokeng is the most striking example of that and his flourished under Riveiro, enjoying the license the coach has given him to play his natural game on the left wing.

This season we have seen the emergence of teenager Mohau Nkota who has also had trust placed in him, while Thalente Mbatha is another whose talent was spotted having been ignored elsewhere. 

Striker Evidence Makgopa has been given a new lease on life and has rewarded the coach with goals, with Riveiro having already used 11 players aged 24 or under in the league this season.

It is a far cry from prior to his arrival. In the 2021/22 campaign Pirates used only four players aged 24 or under in the entire league season. They used an astonishing 21 players aged 30 or more. This season Riveiro has used just four players aged 30 or over.

He has managed to drastically reduce the age of the squad, but at the same time win trophies and develop a style that is producing results. He may have found his first season with the team an eye-opener as he got used to the players and South African football, and at times looked like a startled deer in the headlights, quite unsure which way to go.


But he now knows how to set up his team for success in the domestic game and it then becomes up to the players to execute. He admits it was a steep learning curve.

“There are games (in the PSL) that are really tactical and there are others that aren’t tactical at all,” Riveiro said. “There is always moments in the PSL where it’s very difficult to control the game from a coaching perspective.

“It could be for the spectators that it’s more fun because there’s chances, very quick (end-to-end play). But personally, as a coach, sometimes I suffer a bit in those moments.”

When Riveiro first arrived in the country he employed a 3-4-3 formation and was resolute on three centre-backs. He has since switched to a 4-2-3-1 that gives his side much more stability in defence and allows them to play up to a focal-point striker. It has been Zakhele Lepasa, Tshegofatso Mabasa and more latterly Makgopa.

That formation brings his wingers into play and, and this season has allowed Mofokeng and Nkota to flourish with protection behind them.

Credit to Riveiro for adapting his football philosophy when he found a system that better suited the players at his disposal, rather than trying to fit square pegs into round holes. 

What is clear is that Riveiro has the respect and admiration of his players. His ability to challenge them tactically and keep training sessions interesting has been credited by many who wear the jersey.

The commitment to the cause is evident and the affection the players have for him seems genuine. It appears to be a happy dressingroom made up of players that feel free to express themselves within the tactical system.
That is a far cry from recent years when there was friction behind the scenes and the sense that the club was pulling in different directions.

And all this has been achieved with some personal sacrifice, such that he gets emotional when he talks about it. His family has remained in Spain all this time as he works alone in South Africa, and while no doubt there are visits, it must be difficult for what is clearly a warm and engaging family man.

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