Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela, has shed light on head coach Jose Riveiro's leadership style, revealing a demanding side that pushes players to their limits despite the Spaniard's outwardly calm demeanor.
Following a frustrating home draw against Cape Town Spurs in midweek, Maela spoke candidly on Radio 2000's GameON program. Riveiro, initially met with skepticism upon his appointment in June 2022, has silenced critics with a trophy haul of three domestic titles and a team currently challenging for the DStv Premiership title.
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“He has his moments, I mean the coach works really, really hard 24/7 and sometimes when we don’t execute the plan the way he expects, sometimes he gets really a little bit hard on us as expected,” Maela told GameON on Radio 2000.
Maela further explained the contrasting sides to Riveiro's personality.
“But you’ll never see that side because he is so calm externally, but internally you do see the other side of him. He expects us to do well each and every time, he pushes us you know.
“So, he is not as a calm as you think internally, he is a hard man. He wants us to work hard and push ourselves to the limit and beyond,” continued the skipper.
The dropped points against Cape Town City were a significant setback for Pirates' title ambitions.
“Yeah, from the players perspective it also felt like a defeat, it wasn’t the result we were looking for. But also, it wasn’t the performance we were looking for and I think that’s where it hurts the most because we didn’t play that well,” Maela said.
The draw presented a missed opportunity for Pirates to move into second place and apply pressure on league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, whose match against TS Galaxy was postponed due to a tragic bus accident.
“We didn’t play according to the plan that the coach had for us, but even when we were struggling in the match, we felt like we had the three points in the game.
“But unfortunately, we let it go and I think it was a disappointing of course and we do apologise of course to our followers, fans and we promise we will do better this weekend,” Maela said.
With the highly anticipated Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs looming, Maela's comments offer a valuable glimpse into Riveiro's approach and the expectations within the Pirates camp.
The derby provides a crucial platform for Pirates to bounce back from the midweek setback and demonstrate their commitment to Riveiro's demanding yet ultimately successful brand of football.
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