Demanding season forces Orlando Pirates to split load - Jose Riveiro

The Buccaneers have begun their CAF Champions League campaign and host Djabal FC from Comoros in the return leg of the preliminary round at Orlando Stadium on Friday evening (19h30). 

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Pirates will be involved in five competitions over the course of the 2023/24 campaign, and Riveiro says responsibilities have to be shared. 

"There's something we cannot avoid, which is long trips. For example, when it happened last week, we travelled with 18 players out of 36 in the squad," explained the coach.

"So it means 50 percent of the squad stayed here and we had to make sure we made good use of our technical staff, that we can guarantee everyone is getting quality training and being taken care of at the same level.

"Especially in cases like this of travelling to Comoros, where we stay for five nights far from home to make it possible, so we have to guarantee that the players not travelling are getting quality [support] around them."

Riveiro already hinted at adding more staff members as the modern game leaves them no choice but to go this route. 

It’s part of the reason why Pirates recruited former Young Africans conditioning trainer Helmi Gueldich two weeks ago. 

"That's why the coaching staff grew this season, and probably will continue growing in the future. So far, we are not an NBA team with two coaches per player, but I think football is going in that direction," he added.

"But in the end, what we try is to help the players as much as possible – that's what the players want from us, and we try to surround them with good human beings, first of all, and people with knowledge and the capacity to help them in many different situations."

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