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Ending the year with a squeeze inside the top five laid a perfect base for Orlando Pirates’ new coach, Josef Zinnbauer, to build on in the second half of the Absa Premiership campaign.
The 3-1 win over Black Leopards in Soweto just before the recess was a confidence booster the 49-year-old German was targeting on his debut.
Zinnbauer took charge of his first match after spending just a week training the team since he was unveiled on December 10. But the talking point after the game was more on Rhulani Mokwena, who cut a lonely figure on the bench and seemed to be sulking.
Although there were not as many changes in terms of the playing personnel, the first signs of Zinnbauer’s influence were apparent. The emphasis on ball possession and the freedom to surge forward were key to Bucs securing just their fifth win of the season even though the triumph was attained the hard way.
Pirates’ plan was mostly centred on their build-ups from the back, particularly with full back Innocent Maela encouraged to overlap as and when the team initiated their transitions.
Both goals – by Maela and Gabadinho Mhango – resulted from such quick transitions.
The efforts were complemented by the constant mobility of the team’s strikers – Vincent Pule, Kabelo Dlamini as well as Augustine Mulenga – who made a rare start.
Although Pirates survived sporadic attacks from Leopards, their commitment to the cause was still pleasing to the eye of the big crowd that turned out to welcome Zinnbauer.
Although he opened his chapter with maximum points, the little-known tactician still has to work on his team’s finishing and discipline in the defence.
A porous defence has been Pirates’ vulnerable point so far in the campaign and they have hardly finished their games without conceding.
The goal by Leopards striker Mwape Musonda exposed what has been the story for Pirates so far this season – failing to protect their lead and, in the worst-case scenarios, letting victory slip from their grasp.
But Mhango’s penalty conversion put the game beyond Leopards’ reach.
Failure to convert has also been one of Bucs’ weaknesses that has often outweighed their ability to create chances.
This is an old problem that frustrated Zinnbauer’s predecessors Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic and Mokwena, who recently relinquished his role as caretaker after four months.
With his first game out of the way, Zinnbauer will now get an extended time to work some more with his charges, including influential attacker Thembinkosi Lorch, who will be available for selection after he completed his red card suspension against Leopards.
January is going to be even more testing for the German, when he will start the New Year with an away fixture against Bloemfontein Celtic.
The Buccaneers also have a massive home fixture against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns on January 15.
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