Micho reflects on Bucs’ August agony
● Orlando Pirates are using the international break to right the wrongs of their lukewarm start to the 2018/19 season and the atrocious August they endured.
Pirates played five Premier Soccer League matches last month. They won two on the road, 1-0 away to Chippa United and 2-1 over Black Leopards. Both victories were achieved with 10 men. They also lost two games 1-0 to Bidvest Wits at home and Bloemfontein Celtic away. Bucs are fourth on the standings on seven points behind Bidvest Wits, Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United.
They were held to a 1-1 draw by Highlands Park in their opening match of the season and were booted out of the MTN8 quarterfinal by SuperSport United 4-3 on penalties.
God is sending us a message
Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic sounded like a preacher on a pulpit when he spoke about his team’s August agony.
“It is like God is sending us a message telling us that ‘I want to challenge you to struggle, suffer and sacrifice before reaching what you want’,” said the Serbian.
“God is saying to us ‘it is not enough, dig deeper, be more committed and more determined. This is exactly that rough patch we had in August. But it has also united us.”
Ironing out the creases
Pirates’s Achilles heel has been their failure to convert the chances they create. To this end, the Fifa international break presented an opportunity to iron out those creases.
“This is exactly the topic of our work in this Fifa break, working on the missing factor in our game, scoring.
“From a statistical point of view, in terms of domination in possession, everything is working well. The only missing point is the conversion ratio.”
Pirates will get a chance to show how well their target practice has gone (as well as a chance to exact some revenge) when they host SuperSport at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
We will improve
“We have been like a small baby starting to walk, sleeping there and there. One example is that of Real Madrid last season. They started very well and finished very well but in between they didn’t do well.
“The game model is at a quite satisfactory point. So much more solid defensively and more creative in offence. Indeed we are learning the lesson, to be more creative to beat the parked bus within limited time and space. That is the topic of our work during this time. I am sure that we will improve.”