Orlando Pirates have suffered defeats in their first two Betway Premiership games, against Sekhukhune United and Marumo Gallants, leaving them languishing in 14th position on the log table.
Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Dumisa Ngobe feels these two losses will have a significant impact on Pirates' chase for the league title and will haunt the club at the end of the season.
In an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma, Ngobe stated that the league is more competitive and no team competing for the PSL title can afford to lose two games in a row at the start of the season. Though, if Bucs go on a winning run, they could make up for the slow start.
Ngobe blamed the technical team for making so many changes to the squad that performed very well last season, as he feels there was nothing much to fix.
"You should remember that in the Premier League now there is no easy team, and if you want to win the title then you have to minimise your losses. Your losses should be draws. A team that wins the league normally doesn't have two losses (so quickly). Now they are already two down. And how many draws will there be? Six points are a lot. It's not a good thing. We cannot lie," Ngobe told Soccer Laduma.
Regarding the new signings, Ngobe stated that although the team signed good players, he doesn't see the need to play so many together so soon.
"Fine, the team signed players, but there is something you don't understand, the team last year was challenging for the title with good players. Why don't you keep the same players and have consistency? It will take time for them to understand each other. It will take maybe four or five games, and they would have lost how many points? Football doesn't want you to be desperate. It needs you to be consistent. You only fix where you see that there is a need to fix. The squad for last season, I didn't see anything wrong with it. Maybe the only position they could have beefed up could have been the strikeforce just to have a second option. But what they signed now - I really don't understand. Maybe they know what they are doing. This could be the worst season for Pirates. And you see now they are facing Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday though it's not in the league. Let's see what happens from here, " Ngobe concluded to the Siya crew.
Pirates' next game is in the MTN8 semi-final where they participate in the first leg against Sundowns at Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Their next league encounter is at home against Stellenbosch FC on 20 August at Orlando Stadium at night.
