How Abdeslam Ouaddou is solving Orlando Pirates' weakness witnessed under Jose Riveiro - 'There are a lot of things Bucs have to take into consideration this season'

Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa has explained how head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is trying to solve the set-piece problem at the club.

Mabasa said the new coach is keen to find a solution to the issue that cost them big, especially during a CAF Champions League encounter against Pyramids FC.

“Coach Ouaddou is trying to improve the areas where we lacked last season. He is very demanding, [and] he loves his players at the same time," Mabasa told the media.

“He is also encouraging and similar to coach Jose. There is not a lot that the coach is trying to change, just the way we defend our set pieces and how we deal with our transition as well," he added.

“We lost the CAF Champions League because of the set play. We went to the Pyramids, and we conceded three goals from set pieces, and we were out of the tournament.

“It’s very funny actually how we lost the Champions League on a set piece, but yet in the country, we were the best in terms of defending that. There are a lot of things that we have to take into consideration this season.”

Pirates were eliminated by the eventual Champions League winners, Pyramids, in the semi-final. Despite taking the lead twice, Bucs were poor, especially in how they defended the set-piece situations, and ended up losing 3-2 in Cairo.

Apart from the poor defence against set pieces witnessed in the Champions League, the same problem occurred when Bucs played Bolton Wanderers in pre-season, where they lost 2-0.

Ouaddou has been with his players for some time now, as he was in charge of the friendlies played during the Spain pre-season training. This is understood to have given him valuable time to assess his squad and find weaknesses and solutions.

After returning from their pre-season, Bucs have been preparing for the MTN8 tournament, where they will begin their title defence campaign with a match against Polokwane City.

The quarter-final game will be staged at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.