Orlando Pirates coach Jose’ Riveiro is a happy man as his troops are having fun and hitting all the right notes at the moment.
Pirates have been tipped to be one of the teams to beat this term but after losing their opening league match to Stellenbosch, those expectations took a blow.
But Riveiro’s men have dusted themselves off in style to confirm they are real contenders in all five of the tournaments they will be competing in, including the MTN8 and DStv Premiership.
They hammered Royal AM 4-2 in the league on Tuesday before putting Sekhukhune United to the sword with an emphatic 5-0 win in the MTN8 quarter-final on Saturday night in Orlando.
Having scored nine goals across all competitions the Sea Robbers are seemingly enjoying their football.
“So far, I think it’s easy to notice that they are having fun. They are getting joy from going forward (as the team as well),” said Riveiro, after Pirates started their MTN8 defence with a bang.
“Sometimes, the game is like a storm. Late last season, we worked in the same way with the number of players that were finishing in the box – and that gave a lot of possibilities to catch rebounds.
“The forward players in the squad are very talented players. Obviously, after nine goals in three games, I can be very happy but understand that it’s not always going to be like that.”
After an impressive pre-season, it’s safe to say Riveiro always knew he had talented forwards players at his disposal but the 47-year-old wouldn’t have predicted that his striking unit would be this good in front of goal – especially the returning Zakhele Lepasa.
Lepasa has scored five goals in two matches, including a hat-trick on Saturday – despite missing a penalty and hitting the woodwork twice.
The 26-year-old striker is no doubt enjoying himself back in the famous black and white colours of the club having spent the second of half last campaign out on loan at SuperSport United.
While Riveiro was pleased with his return, some supporters still feel Lepasa could do more. It is an opinion that the coach understands.
“I cannot tell our fans what to think or do. They are football fans, they are mature, they watch the games and have their opinions about what we do,” Riveiro said.
“We try to improve the history of the club every week, preparing ourselves as best as possible for each game that we are going to play.”
It’s not only up front where the hard yards at training are paying off – but in defence as well.
Goalkeeper Sipho Chaine kept his first clean sheet of the season in three matches on Saturday and that, again, pleases Riveiro who knows the importance of running a tight ship in cup competitions.
“But we need to understand that it won’t always be possible to score four or five goals in one game – sometimes you’ll score one and just keep the clean sheet,” Riveiro said.
“That’s something that makes me very happy. When we managed to win the MTN8 that was one of the key things – if not the main one. It was our consistency in defence – we conceded only once.
“In these knockout competitions, it’s very tricky – otherwise you need to be accurate up front and that’s the most difficult thing. I am glad about the clean sheet in our third official game of the season.”