Riveiro knows Pirates need to do better

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says he wants his players to give hope to their supporters with a better performance when they take on a struggling Cape Town Spurs in a DStv Premiership tie at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.

The Buccaneers have been struggling to hit form in the league campaign, and are already way off the furious pace at the top being set by Mamelodi Sundowns.

On Friday, Pirates were held to a 1-1 draw by Polokwane City, despite the Buccaneers dominating the match and creating plenty of goal-scoring chances, which they failed to utilise.

Riveiro believes his charges are giving their all to get positive results, but admits that they are probably not at their best at the moment.

“How can we give them (supporters) hope? With a better performance than today [Friday], it’s simple. It’s about what they want to see, the team fighting until the end,” said Riveiro.

“Nobody can say Pirates didn’t run today [Friday] but probably not…the way we want to play. But we move on, we go to the next one.”

The Soweto giants have played seven matches in the league, but they have only managed to win two, and are currently occupying 13th spot on the table with nine points.

While the club’s log position seems to be a worry for many, Riveiro doesn’t see it as a major concern. He says the only time he would be worried is if the team were not playing well.

‘Points is something abstract’

“I am not concerned with the points, I cannot be concerned. Points is something abstract, it’s a figure, I cannot be concerned with a point. But I can be concerned with some things that we are not doing well and that we need to correct during the week,” he added.

“We are not finding the goal or the three points as easily we would like and that’s a handicap obviously in a game like football.”

The Spaniard adds that he is working on helping his players to improve and win their games.

“I am busy with the problems that we have, I am not concerned. Game after game we get can get new problems, but not recurring ones. If we continue to get old problems then it means we are doing something wrong. So that’s the thing, I am busy trying to help my players to win games and to score more goals.”

Pirates will battle it out with the Urban Warriors, who are still searching for their first point of the season and are lying bottom of the table after eight games.