What Mostly Impressed Ouaddou At Pirates
Orlando Pirates’ new coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has revealed what impressed him in his first few days in charge of the Soweto giants as they gear up for the 2025/26 season, where they are set to compete on all fronts.
The Moroccan mentor has been entrusted with steering the Bucs ship after Jose Riveiro, who won five domestic cup titles during his three-year tenure, left the club to take up a new project with record 12-time African champions Al Ahly.
Ouaddou will have a broader knowledge of the squad at his disposal in the club’s pre-season camp in Spain, as the team departed on Monday. The Sea Robbers arrived on Tuesday and will face Bolton Wanderers, Pafos FC, Granada, and Las Palmas at the Marbella football center.
With preparations for the new campaign underway, the 44-year-old tactician highlighted the grave importance of conducting a pre-season camp to ensure success in the five competitions Pirates will be competing in.
“Many teams miss the league or are unsuccessful, or maybe they get relegated because they didn’t prepare well in the preseason. You must know that preseason is six or seven weeks where you are going to prepare the engine of the players,” Ouaddou said.
“The preparation is very important, the cohesion as well, because it’s the moment where we are together and preparing the body for the whole year. It’s the moment that you are teaching the principles to the players, trying to set up your game model – how are we going to attack and defend?
“So, it’s a very important moment for the players to understand the way you want to play. And physically, it’s the moment that you have six weeks to prepare the body to answer to the high intensity effort because football is a high intensity game.”
The former Morocco international defender continued: “You have to help your body to recover quickly, and it is in that moment that you are shaping your body. If you miss this part of the season, it’s finished for you.”
On what stood out for him at Pirates, Ouaddou singled out the behind-the-scenes medical work to condition the players to be able to compete at the highest level. Moreover, the well-travelled coach likened the Bucs’ set-up to that of renowned French Ligue 1 clubs.
“I’m very surprised with what I have seen at Orlando Pirates, about sports scientists, about the medical tests. Everything was taken seriously. What I have been doing in England, in the biggest clubs, I found it here [at Pirates],” he added.
“It’s the first time in Africa that I have seen such professionalism in a club, it’s unbelievable. And I think even in France, apart from Paris-Saint Germain (PSG), apart from Lyon, Lille maybe, there are not many clubs that are organized like Orlando Pirates.”
