Pirates Coach Reveals the ‘Key’ to Saleng’s Form

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has explained the methods they use to get the best out of players such as Monnapule Saleng, who scored a hat-trick against his former side Swallows.

Saleng has been a revelation for Pirates since he was given a chance by Riveiro two months into the season, going on to be a huge part of their goal-scoring solutions after he was not used by the previous coaches.

Riveiro revealed that they spotted the talent of the former Free State Stars winger because they always pay special attention to the attacking players at training.

“We try to create an environment and structure where all the talented players can have a space in our team,” Riveiro said in a press conference. “It’s not easy to do it, it’s not something you cannot do in a short space of time and at the same time continue winning, so we’re trying to find the balance in between, understanding that the team we’re representing that we have to get result at the same time we’re building something else.”

“Like I said before, we put our eyes on the players that do the last pass, the last touch to the net but we want to see them part of the whole picture and structure that would give the opportunity to celebrate games more frequently,” he added.

The Spanish mentor carried on and said that their responsibility is to make sure that the attacking players spend more time on the ball and within the structure and the rest will follow naturally.

“When inside that structure you have the possibility to see players like the ones who played (against Swallows), I think they all played very well in front of our central midfielders,” he continued.

“So we’re doing nothing special, we just try to work as good as possible, everyday we try to help our players find solutions on the field.

“But in the end it’s their talent and their understanding of the game and their capacity to make decisions in small spaces and the way they interact,” he said. “The key from our side is the responsibility to guarantee that they can spend more time on the ball and then it’s their talent. I cannot explain to our players how to pass the ball or how to fool the opponent, it’s something you know natural and all the credit to them,” he added.