Ouaddou Praises Mbokazi, Tipping Him For Leadership Role
Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has lauded the impressive performance of young star defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi, stating that the tough defender will be one of the team’s leaders this coming season.
Mbokazi had a magnificent breakthrough last season, establishing himself as a trusted player in the squad.
Mbokazi played a crucial role in the defense and was even given the responsibility of wearing the captain’s armband in the second half of Sunday’s pre-season match against Pafos FC, a clear sign of his emerging leadership abilities.
To align with his importance, Mbokazi played the entire game and as always, he was composed at the back.
The Moroccan-born tactician is proud of Mbokazi’s progress and believes he deserves more playing time, as he is set to become a key figure for the upcoming season.
“Yeah, he’s one of the big men of that team. He’s South African. He’s proud of what he’s doing, and we are proud of him. He did a good game,” said Ouaddou.
“Normally, we give him this captaincy, and step by step, we want to give him more time, because of course, it will be one of the main men for us this season. And it’s why we give him that responsibility. And he showed it magnificently; he did a great game. So he needs to continue like that. He was fantastic.”
Ouaddou shared that he opted to change the game plan of this game after recognising the opponent’s great build-up and further acknowledged that this team is one of the strongest in Europe.
“Yes, of course, we have decided to change the plan because this team, you can say that it’s one of the strongest teams in Europe in terms of building, a lot of rotation,” Ouaddou stated.
“And sometimes we can distinguish because of trouble, so we decided to play very high to prevent this team from building. It worked. I’m very happy about the play.”
He continued: “But we didn’t only do this pressing. We only played, especially in the first half. We had to control the position. And we can see that our team, step by step, is getting better. They start to understand exactly the expectations of the coach. So I’m happy and very happy about the boys.”
