Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Bucs got a wake-up call: "Our defeat against Zamalek is no train smash...!"

Orlando Pirates lost for the first time in the group stages of the CAF Champions League. This should be a wake-up call for The Mighty Bucs who played in patches n somehow failed to cope with the pace of the Egyptians.

Defense: Captain Lucky Lekgwathi panicked and committed an unnecessary foul on Shikibala which resulted in a penalty inside the 10 minutes of the game that set the tone for the game as we had to chase the game for the entire afternoon. Once again the defending abilities of our right n left back left a lot to be desired the sad part is that there's nothing to write home about their offensive play either. Both Matlaba n Jele are in the comfort Zone which is detrimental to the team. Rooi Mahamutsa played like hes possessed n kept things tight at the back. Senzo Meyiwa had a fairly good game made brilliant save when required to. We shouldn't have conceded from that corner kick. 5/10

Midfield: This is where we lost the plot. The young Masalesa was caught for pace and hardly won any ball but he never gave up. Oupa Manyisa was all over the place but not as effective offensively n defensively he was not bad. Tlou Segolela proved to be inconsistent and got himself in the ref's book unnecessarily which made it easy for the coach to sub him at the interval. Daine Klate was hardly seen in the pitch n for once his physique worked against him he should have been the first to be subbed. The introduction of Andile Jali worked in our favor but the final ball was always letting us down. 5/10

Attack: Sifiso Myeni played as a supportive striker to Lennox Bacela but the two hardly combined. It was a solo effort from Bacela that resulted in the goal. Both didn't have a bad game but they need to support each other. The distance between them was too big and the support was always late. 4/10

Subs: The introduction of Thulasizwe Mbuyane injected pace in our favor but faded within 10 minutes. Jali's Introduction stabilized our midfield but the slow build ups n too much knocking of the ball around allowed our opponents time to regroup. Ndumiso Mabena was huffing n puffing as usual. No Rating

The Technical Team: We always lambast them when the team loses but I must say Roger de Sa and his team seems to know what they are doing. The head coach is always lambasted in that he doesn't have plan B n I’ve always asked those people what is plan B no one has ever answered me.

We started with a 4-2-3-1 formation after the break we came back with a 4-3-2-1 When Zamalek scored the 2nd goal they parked the bus and we resorted to a 4-4-2 but unfortunately we were let down by our final ball and we lost the ball cheaply in the last third for the entire game. Well done to the technical team besides the lost they showed understanding of the game and were unfortunate to lose through set pieces. Those who says Roger doesn't have plan B think again… he’s got plan A, B and C it’s just that our players sometimes fail to perfect their game. 7/10


We remain on top of the group despite the loss we just need 4 points from the remaining 2 games and we are in the semi-finals. Those who will write us of must do that at their own peril...  we will qualify for the semi-finals and stand a good chance of making the finals... Up Magebhula!!!!

By Philani Madonsela

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