Ouaddou Discusses Squad Management Challenge

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has acknowledged that having a large squad presents a challenge, but he is committed to ensuring every player feels valued.

Pirates signed 14 new players during the off-season, while releasing 13 others, including some on loan and others with unrenewed contracts. This off-season also saw the retirement of last season’s captain, Innocent Maela, with Nkosinathi Sibisi taking over as skipper.

As Pirates prepare to kick off their Betway Premiership campaign against Sekhukhune United at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, Ouaddou, who took over from fan favorite Jose Riveiro, commented on the difficulty of having so many players.

“About the number of players, it’s all the time a challenge,” Ouaddou said.

“In my previous clubs where I was a coach, I usually worked with between 25-28 players, because in terms of management, it’s very important to keep everyone involved for the targets of the club.”

He further explained the difficulties: “The challenge is when you have maybe 40 players… it becomes difficult. You can’t be efficient in your work—you can’t get directly to the point, you need to make many rotations in training. You need to keep everyone content, try to think about the sessions and rotations. Instead of putting all the focus on your main team, you have to focus on the rotation and keep everyone content.”

However, Ouaddou sees his role as more than just a coach. “It’s a challenge, but at the moment I’m an educator, before being a professional coach. As long as I have 30-35 players, I can’t let, even if it’s 10 players, I cannot leave players on the side.

“In terms of sporting values, in terms of being a human, I have to include them and to think a little more about the session and how I can include them. It’s not up to me. But as long as we have many players, I have to train them, it’s my job, I’m paid for that.”