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Orlando Pirates legend Mothibi slams Zinnbauer's tactical approach as fans plan protest
The Buccaneers succumbed to yet another big defeat this season which has attracted criticism from a club great and drew the ire of their supporters
Former Orlando Pirates striker James Mothibi is of the opinion coach Josef Zinnbauer got his tactics wrong when they lost 4-0 away at Raja Casablanca in a Caf Confederation Cup match on Sunday
The result saw the Soweto giants eliminated from the Confederation Cup 5-1 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage, a result that has left their fans planning to march to Orlando Stadium to push for the sacking of the German tactician.
It was yet another heavy defeat this season since being thrashed 4-1 by Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup in April and a 3-0 Premier Soccer League loss to the same side in early May.
With the above in mind, Mothibi is not convinced by the tactics Pirates employed on Sunday.
“Combination passes didn’t work, also second balls got us exposed by Raja. Their midfielders were pressing very high, that’s why Raja scored with counter-attacks and the mistakes by our defenders,” said Mothibi as per Phakaaathi.
“Our center-backs were adding into the midfield and ending up leaving people who are supposed to attack at the back, which was a very poor tactical approach.”
For a second game running, Zinnbauer started the match without an outright striker, preferring to bench Frank Mhango, while he opted Abel Mabaso as a midfield anchorman ahead of Ben Motshwari, who came as a late substitute.
The German stuck with Innocent Maela as a center-back, while Ntsikelelo Nyauza never came off the bench.
“Look it’s better when you play Innocent Maela at left-back and Wayde Jooste at right-back where he plays,” Mothibi continued.
“Play with Thulani Hlatshwayo and deploy Nkanyiso Zungu at centre-back because he is comfortable on the ball and it will help in terms of build-ups from the back.
"In midfield, our defensive midfielders should be Ben Motshwari and Thabang Monare. Vincent Pule and Thembinkosi Lorch should play in front of them because they are creative. On the wings you play with speed.
“Throw Deon Hotto on the left and Gabadinho Mhango on the right and leave Tshegofatso Mabasa as the only striker. They failed in the opening 13 minutes.
"We missed three clear chances. Lastly, Raja was playing with speed and there was no one at Pirates who was trying to slow down the pace of the game.
“The only way was to be comfortable on the ball and move Raja side to side for them to open up. If you watched the game, you would have noticed that every-time Pirates played the ball in the midfield, Raja would press our players with more than two players.”
With Pirates’ PSL top-three hopes also under threat, their fans are organising a march to Orlando Stadium on June 5 protesting against “below standard performances.”
Buccaneers super fan Dejan Miladinovic wants Zinnbauer to be fired as part of some changes he feels should take place at the club.
“Look, it’s good that we will be going to Orlando because we are not happy with the way things have been going in the team, especially in terms of results,” said Miladinovic.
“We are really not happy and we want to see some changes happening, starting with the coach.
"That’s what the fans want because they see that things are not going well for us.
"The team hasn’t been doing well, actually, we have performed below our standards for the last couple of years. We are a big team and we expect big results.”
Pirates now shift attention to the PSL where they host second-placed AmaZulu on Thursday.
