Riveiro at a loss to explain 'passive' Pirates

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with bottom side Cape Town Spurs was one of the worst games of his tenure in charge of the side and there will need to be a vast improvement in Saturday’s Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs.

Pirates took the lead through teenager Relebohile Mofokeng, but were pegged back in the second half by Spurs, who scored a stunner via left-back Gabriel Kamagi.

The Buccaneers had a stonewall penalty not given late on, and had to settle for a draw which leaves them one point off Stellenbosch FC in second place, though having played a game more.

“A terrible one, it’s one of our worst games ever, difficult to swallow, difficult to understand,” Riveiro said. “I think difficult in the beginning to manipulate the spaces but we managed to two-three times, but then we just stopped.

“We were not aggressive in the pressing, we allowed them to run comfortably in the transition every time they have the opportunity. We didn’t apply ourselves in the whole first half and in the second half I don’t know, we were just waiting for the goal to attack again.

“We were really passive, not taking any risks from the first line, not playing in the pressing. They found spaces everywhere and any time they wanted, so really difficult to explain, a really bad game from our side so it’s time to do it better next time."

That ‘next time’ is against Chiefs on Saturday, where it is not just bragging rights up for grabs, but also three vital points.

“We need to be more brave, more dynamic much more active. I’m not speculating the result because it’s not the first time that this has happened to us, it seems we didn’t learn so much from the last time," he added.

“We have two days to prepare for the next game and we’re coming."