Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer refused to be critical of his defence following a dismal showing in the 4-1 demolition by Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup on Thursday night.
Pirates' central defence duo Happy Jele and Thulani Hlatshwayo struggled in their battle with ex-Highlands Park striker Peter Shalulile, coming off worst on a number of occasions.
The Namibian was a constant nuisance to Bucs' backline and opened the scoring for Sundowns, was involved in the build-up of the second goal, and assisted the fourth goal, leading to doubts to the resoluteness of the Pirates defence.
But Zinnbauer refused to be critical of his backline, instead, he showered the Brazilians with praise.
''It is true it was not enough, the first goal we get 10 players on the field and we did not have enough pressure on the ball, and that is normally a signal that we have to drop and we know when they find the players or the attackers, they can run with the lines, they have the speed and it was very good,’’ Zinnbauer told the media.
"We were not 100% in the game in that situation and this was a problem.
''[But] we start defending by the strikers, then comes the midfielder and defenders, it was not so and now we say the defenders have the problem. But if the strikers close, you go in a good angle, they cannot play the balls through the lines so easily.
''It is a shifting problem, [because] if you are shifting good, they cannot play inside. If there is good pressure, they cannot have an easy build-up.
''Against the ball, together we were not good enough. It was [enough] the pressure that we give normally.
"It was not in the build-up that we have normally, maybe we can say it's Sundowns, but normally we have another shape, other runs, and other defence work. But this was the game and we have to accept the result and I say it again, it was not enough today.''
In 35 matches played across all competitions so far this campaign, Pirates have conceded 23 goals.
The focus for Zinnbauer’s men, who’ve already won the MTN8 title this season, now shifts to the Caf Confederation Cup where they are on brink of reaching the quarter-finals but will need an unlikely slip-up from Sundowns to launch a late surge for the Premier Soccer League title.