Johannesburg - The most telling sign of Orlando Pirates’ troubles isn’t so much the position they’re in – 12th place, 17 points behind leaders Wits – but what they’re failing to do to get out of it.
That makes the battle to move up the log more about the psychological state of the team and the players rather than the one of improving the performance. Get the head right, the results should follow.
The club possesses one of the most formidable attacking trios around in Kermit Erasmus, Thamsanqa Gabuza and Lehlohonolo Majoro while Tendai Ndoro waits on the side-lines. But even with that much fire-power, Pirates have been struggling in front of goal. Only Polokwane City, Jomo Cosmos and University of Pretoria have scored less goals than Pirates – not the kind of company they would like to keep as the trio is fighting to avoid relegation while the Buccaneers are looking to keep their 100 percent record of always finishing in the top eight in the PSL era intact.
It’s an unwelcome state of affairs for coach Eric Tinkler, as the club reached the final of the CAF Confederation Cup final last year because of their impressive display in front of goal. Now that they are playing catch-up, Pirates have lost that golden touch.
It showed in the glorious opportunity Erasmus got in the dying minutes of the 1-1 draw with Platinum Stars that he sent wayward.
That was the difference between the club getting a victory and losing two valuable points.
“We started nervy and anxious, you could see the way we performed,” Tinkler said. “What you see at training and what we did in that match, was entirely different. It comes from the pressure that we are currently facing … If you look at the chances created, we’re top of the pile.
“We’re the team with the most entrances in the final third, team with the most shots at goal and the team with the most shots on target. Yet we aren’t putting the ball into the back of the net. That’s an area that we need to get better at. It’s an area that has always been our strength when we went through the Confederation Cup. It will come, as long as we continue believing.”
The mentor will hope to change that against University of Pretoria tomorrow night at Orlando Stadium. AmaTuks will visit Pirates at the back of a morale-boosting victory over Ezenkosi.
The two teams, apart from being bottom of the log, share a common trait in that their players are in need of positive injection to shake off the lethargic performances of late. - Cape Times