Ouaddou: Orlando Pirates will face a very different Marumo Gallants in the final

The Buccaneers opened their Betway Premiership campaign with a 1–0 home defeat to Sekhukhune United, before going down 2–1 away to Gallants in Bloemfontein. 

As he prepares to face his former side this evening in the Carling Cup final at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Ouaddou gives an analysis on his former side.

"It was our second game when we went to Marumo, I was not surprised about the way they played because I was a coach there and I think something that they picked up from what I taught was the unity, the same spirit. I felt that they still have that,” Ouaddou said. 

“It's a team that is able to run as well and the first thing that I told them when I came there, I made a fitness test and I can tell you that, the fitness of most of the players was very low, so we had an opportunity to work. They still kept that."

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Ouaddou arrived in South Africa in March to take charge of Gallants, and by the end of June, he had been snapped up by Pirates — a sign of the immediate impact he made in the country. 

He points out that the key difference between him and his successor, Alexandre Laffite, is that the Frenchman has been able to strengthen the squad during the transfer window, something Ouaddou did not have the luxury of when he took over.

"I think you know when you are young and you manage to come to the South African market, one of the best leagues in Africa, you have qualities. What I have noticed this season from him, which is different from me last season, is that he was able to get players, to buy players,” the coach added. 

“Last season when I came, I came in February and I had to deal with the players that we had."

Still, the Pirates mentor maintains that Laffite — the youngest coach in the PSL at just 28 — is doing an impressive job, evidenced by Gallants’ strong start to the season and their place in tonight’s final.

"He's doing a good job and yeah, he's a young coach but we have talented coaches as well in our continent in South Africa especially. I always speak about the coach of Golden Arrows, the coach of Siwelele, the coach of Durban City, the coach of Stellenbosch, so we have quality as well in our continent."