Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has got the backing of many of those associated with the club as he attempts to lead the team to another successful season.
Having won the MTN8 among his achievements of the previous season, Riveiro is aiming to build on the success by defending the competition while also challenging for the league title and other cup competitions later in the season, including the sought-after CAF Champions League.
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The Spaniard has led the Buccaneers to the semi-finals of the MTN8 following a convincing 5-0 win over Sekhukhune United in the previous round.
Former Pirates goalkeeper Thabang Stemmer is backing Riveiro to get it right with his planning for the busy 2023/24 campaign after the tactician decided to rotate goalkeepers in the previous match as Sipho Chaine made way for Richard Ofori between the sticks against Djabal Club in Comoros last weekend.
"The coach planned for it from day one when the team started the pre-season and you could see what was about to happen. I had been following the team during their pre-season and even when they were in Spain I could see that the coach was preparing a separate team to play league and cup matches, as well as a team to play in Africa," said Stemmer.
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"It is not a bad idea what they have come up with because I understand that Ofori has got the experience of playing in Africa, having featured in AFCON tournaments (for the Ghana senior national team) and so on, while Chaine is still learning. It is a norm in football worldwide where you see the two best goalkeepers competing for a position, with one playing league matches and the other playing cup competitions and Manchester City often do that. I like it because it gives the team more options and a healthy competition. And it wasn't only in the goalkeeping department that Pirates made the changes in the previous match and I understood the thinking behind it, because the season has still got a long way to go," he said.
