Abdeslam Ouaddou, the coach of the Orlando Pirates, says that after their second loss, they must start over in order to bounce back stronger when they play Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
Marumo Gallants defeated Pirates 2-1 on Tuesday night at the crowded Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The setback occurred just days after Sekhukhune United defeated the Buccaneers 1-0 in their first Betway Premiership game on Saturday in front of their home crowd at Orlando Stadium.
The Moroccan-French coach, who took over from Jose Riveiro in the off-season, has been in charge for three official matches.
He had a great start in the MTN8 quarterfinals when they defeated Polokwane City 2-0 to eliminate them from the competition.
Bucs fans in a panic
However, they have not performed well in the Betway Premiership and are already in the relegation zone after two rounds of games.
“We started the game very well, and we created a lot of scoring chances that we did not convert,” said a distraught Ouaddou after the match.
“And like I said, when you do not score, you provide the opportunity to the opponent to finish you off. It is disappointing because we started very well.
“We are going to analyse the game and see what went wrong, especially in the second half. We tried to make changes and to bring on some fresh blood – but from the changes, we did not get what we expected.
“It is a big disappointment; we are going to analyse [the game] so that we can come back stronger.”
Against Sundowns on Saturday in the first leg of the MTN8 semifinals in Orlando, Ouaddou, a former head coach of the Gallants, will need to devise a better strategy.
Nothing short of a victory will calm the irate Bucs supporters, who are already in a panic and question Ouaddou’s coaching skills.
After a sluggish start to the league, Sundowns have rallied and will be ready to take on Pirates after defeating AmaZulu 2-0 at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday night.
