Orlando Pirates should be worried about a statistic that questions whether they have enough depth to deal with difficulties in a season they have two extra competitions to play in.
The Buccaneers were not in continental tournaments last season but with their return to the CAF Champions League and the addition of the Carling Knockout Cup, their squad depth will be tested to the limit.
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The Buccaneers’ first test in that regard was a CAF Champions League second preliminary round, first-leg tie on Sunday against Jwaneng Galaxy, three days before one of their big fixtures of the season against Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Sea Robbers head coach Jose Riveiro decided to rest his regular players, as the likes of Zakhele Lepasa, Patrick Maswanganyi, Monnapule Saleng, Nkosinathi Sibisi and Relebohile Mofokeng did not travel to Botswana.
After Riveiro made wholesale changes against Galaxy, Pirates lost the first-leg clash 1-0 in Gaborone and the result questions the Buccaneers’ depth, considering that the Botswana Premier League is actually yet to start since it ended in June.
Galaxy head coach Morena Ramoreboli believes his side were full value for their win despite Pirates making many changes, because he believes the identity of the team is the same.
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“I think the good thing about football is that even if the players can change but as long as the coach is still the same person, tactically the game model won’t change,” Ramoreboli said on Radio 2000.
“So, whatever they are doing when they don’t have (Paseka) Mako, is the same thing they do when they have (Innocent) Maela. Whatever they are doing when they have (Bandile) Shandu is the same thing they are doing when they have (Thabiso) Monyane.
“Whatever they are doing when they don’t have (Miguel) Timm, is the same thing they do when they have (Thabang) Monare,” he said.
“So you have to understand that as much as they changed individuals but they did not change their identity. We knew that they have a very tough schedule (and could change the team) but we had to understand there are things they do regularly and you have to adapt to those things,” he added.
The Soweto giants became the first PSL team to lose a single CAF game to a Botswana team, not counting a two-legged tie where two draws have previously resulted in elimination. Bucs were knocked out of the CAF Champions League qualifiers by Gaborone United on away goals after a 2-2 draw on aggregate in 2010.
The question remains, do Pirates have enough quality in their reserves to deal with what will be a long season, where they may lose key players to injuries or suspensions?
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