JOHANNESBURG - Orlando Pirates coach Micho Sredojevic believes his team can still win silverware this season despite the inconsistency of results in the Absa Premiership and losing out on the season’s first cup competition, the MTN8.
“In everything that we go into, we have the highest possible ambitions to go all the way and win it,” he explained. “That is the identity of the club which I am currently blessed to be the head coach of. All of us as the technical team and players, together with the support of the management and supporters, we are working very hard to achieve what we are looking for. Last year, we had the so-called ‘soul-healing session’ and this season we want to do everything possible to ‘feed the souls’.”
The Telkom Knockout tournament that’s scheduled to commence on October 20-21, immediately after the international break, will offer the Bucs another opportunity to challenge for silverware this season. The Sea Robbers will be at home to Chippa United, and the Serbian says they’ll approach the match with caution.
“We want to give respect to Chippa United,” he insisted. “We should also give respect to ourselves and the game of football. This match really demands our focus. In a cup competition you have no right to have any slip, hence we will pay attention to every detail so that we can proceed to the next round.”
For the first club in PSL era that has a finishing specialist, Stephane Adam, Sredojevic admits that they haven’t had the expected potent attack so far and as such, they need to improve. In 11 matches, they have merely scored 14 goals, while also missing a number of clear-cut chances.
However, Micho also acknowledges that the work that you put in attack should be equivalent to that which you put in defence. As much as they’ve lacked sharpness upfront, they have also been leaky in defence considering that they’ve conceded 11 goals so far. “In football you need to balance attack and defence,” Sredojevic said.
CONFIRMED: #TKO2018 round of 16 fixtures Venues, Kick-off times and Dates announced by the PSL pic.twitter.com/16uuG12hGl
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) October 11, 2018