Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has admitted that over-complicating the tactical role of Relebohile Mofokeng may have backfired during the Buccaneers’ 2-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday night.
Despite the loss, Ouaddou reiterated his admiration for the 21-year-old’s footballing intelligence, describing him as one of the best readers of the game in the Betway Premiership. However, the technical team’s decision to shift Mofokeng across multiple positions at the FNB Stadium appeared to stifle the youngster’s natural rhythm.
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“I have already spoken about the qualities of Rele,” Ouaddou noted.
“He’s clever and can play two or three positions in modern football. Rele is used to playing out wide, and we have used him in many games as a 10. I believe that when he plays as a 10, he has a total scan of the possibilities. When we put him out wide, he only has a half-scan because of the touchline.”
The statistics back the coach’s assessment of Mofokeng’s preference for the central channel. Entering the Sundowns clash, Mofokeng had been in scintillating form as a No. 10, picking up three successive Player of the Match awards while tallying three goals and two assists in as many games.
Against the champions, however, Mofokeng was deployed in a wider channel with instructions to rotate with Oswin Appollis. This constant movement seemed to destabilise his individual fluidity and hampered his combination play, leading to uncharacteristic turnovers of possession.
“I know that today, we moved him a lot,” Ouaddou reflected. “Sometimes when a player settles in one position and feels comfortable, changing him once or twice can destabilise him.
“Maybe we need to think about stabilising him in at least one position during a game. I allowed him to swap positions to create a surprise element, but today, I think we changed him too much.”
With Pirates’ lead at the top of the table now trimmed to three points—and Sundowns holding a game in hand — Ouaddou is focused on refined development for his star asset.
“We can still help him in training by creating situations where he’s under pressure to develop,” said the coach. “The high level of play gives you less time to make decisions. For a player with such a low centre of gravity, you need to put him under pressure to make those quick decisions.”
*Mihlali Baleka is Independent Media’s senior football reporter and a panelist on the group’s soccer podcast, The D-Line, which is exclusive on our YouTube channel The Clutch
