The Scott Chickelday effect? Riveiro sho coming? Ck
Around three weeks ago, the Soweto giants appointed Englishman Scott Chickelday as a strikers coach. South Africans have seen Benni McCarthy take up the same role at Manchester United and it’s not the first time that Bucs have hired someone in that role. In 2018, Frenchman Stephane Adam came in as finishing coach under coach Milutin Sredojevic.
From the training videos posted, Chickelday largely focused on isolated finishing exercises, usually with no defenders and just some mannequins as an obstruction. Players like Erasmus and Deon Hotto have been shown doing extra shooting work and the coach has no doubt spent time with all of the strikers and wingers. Some will point to the side’s big uptick in scoring – just 10 goals netted in the first 15 matches vs nine goals scored in the last three matches – as clear evidence of the coach’s impact.
A bigger factor is arguabl selection of Riveiro in rec Having used a 3-4-2-1 shap or seven defensive players f this season, he has used a progressive system of lat four has been seen, whilst th has featured two usual num Kabelo Dlamini and Ndlond of destroyers like Ben Mots Goodman Mosele. It is th surprise that Pirates are scoring goals: they have five players on the pitch no newly adventurous structur Marumo, they hardly creat deal of chances. They had in the match, but in the fi was the goal from Saleng long-range hopeful shots o second half, they didn’t creat particularly clear besides th It’s still a work in progress areas.
One of the most interestin comes in how Riveiro lin
attack. Erasmus joined the club right before the MTN8 semi-final first leg earlier this season. After a debut as a sub that day, he has started every single match since then… until the weekend’s 2-0 win against Gallants. That fixture saw a surprise start for Terrence Dzvukamanja, who was being linked with a move to SuperSport just days before. Erasmus got no minutes last Saturday with Bienvenu Eva Nga surprisingly given an outing from the bench. Considering how heated he was in his touchline argument with Rhulani Mokwena in the Carling Black Label Cup, Erasmus will be raring to go.
Pirates have a huge number of strikers: Erasmus, Dzvukamanja, Eva Nga, Ndumiso Mabena, Zakhele Lepasa, Evidence Makgopa and new Cameroonian international Souaibou Marou, a reported R 3.5m signing, once his work permit has been received. It will be hard to drop Dzvukamanja after his performance and assist in the last match, so Erasmus may need to settle for a place on the bench in this one. That isn’t even guaranteed with seven strikers to call upon!
In the last edition of Soccer Laduma, we bemoaned the lack of a tactical surprise from either Chiefs or Sundowns for a big game. Riveiro isn’t shy of throwing a spanner into the works against the top sides. Against Amakhosi before the World Cup, he selected Erasmus and Lepasa as a front two. Against the Brazilians in December, the Spaniard again tried to surprise his opponents by using Hotto, Vincent Pule and Saleng as an attacking trio behind Erasmus.
Both times, these selections backfired. Against their archrivals, Pirates failed to score and were outnumbered in the midfield battle until half-time, where Lepasa was hooked for Dlamini. Against Downs, they only managed 38% ball possession and 0.63 Expected Goals. two strikers running the channels. The benefit to this shape is having angles in midfield to progress the ball, having half-space occupation, a genuine 10 between the lines and two strikers to link up – most centre-backs these days are used to facing a lone striker and don’t enjoy playing two versus two.
For Bucs, they tend to play with plenty of width. They have used wingbacks for most of this season but have recently played with genuine wingers since Saleng’s explosion onto the scene, Hotto’s return to a higher position and Pule’s return from injury. Craig Martin has also arrived to play as an attacking right back or even as a right winger on occasion. This match therefore throws up a fascinating battle. Will Pirates try to play narrower to avoid being overloaded centrally? Will Sundowns have a plan if Bucs are looking to create two-versus-one scenarios down the sides? The one thing we know is that Mokwena is good at reading the game and making small adjustments where needed. Don’t be surprised to see him use defensive wingers in the second half if leading. Even Shalulile has moved wide to diligently track a fullback at times.