Like Wenger’s Arsenal! Ouaddou reveals the machine behind Orlando Pirates
Ouaddou says Orlando Pirates have built a backroom machine that would not look out of place among Europe’s elite.
Details: Speaking after Orlando Pirates’ 1-0 away win over African Stars in the first leg of their CAF Champions League second preliminary-round tie, Abdeslam Ouaddou compared the size and influence of his backroom staff with the setup he witnessed during a visit to Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal.
The Moroccan coach revealed that Pirates currently have around 18 to 19 people working in the backroom team, a number that immediately reminded him of what he saw under Wenger in London:
“What is important in our club is we have around 18 to 19 people in the staff. It’s a lot. It’s like in Europe. If you go to Arsenal, I’m very close to Mr Wenger, and at the time when I had a visit there in Arsenal, I have seen he had 18 people in his staff. In Pirates, we have 18 to 19.”
Ouaddou was particularly keen to highlight the specialists working away from the spotlight and the African expertise inside the club:
“People see only the coach, but you have to understand that around the coach there are a lot of competences, and I want to mention it: African competences. This is important to mention,” he said.
The Pirates boss explained that information supplied from the stands, including player-performance data, can directly affect decisions made during a match:
“What is important is what comes from the stand, because we manage the fatigue, we manage the high-intensity effort. So, if one player is getting in the red flag, that maybe we can risk an injury, so we take him out before he gets this injury. Sometimes it’s just to bring some freshness, sometimes it’s to protect our players as well because we have many fixtures, and sometimes it’s a tactical adjustment,” Ouaddou explained.
That workload is also why rotation has become so important:
“We have a lot of fixtures as we play in the Carling Knockout Cup. We will play in the second leg in the Champions League and we have the Soweto Derby. This season we are going to play nearly 60 games,” Ouaddou added.
Deon Hotto remained on the bench against his former club African Stars, but the coach left the door open for the return leg:
“Hopefully, he will be able to bring his experience.”
It is worth noting that Arsenal are the reigning 2025/26 Premier League champions, having ended a 22-year wait for the English title. Orlando Pirates, meanwhile, are the reigning South African champions and will host African Stars in the decisive CAF Champions League return leg on October 23 after winning the first meeting 1-0.
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Steven Perez
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