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By Tshepo Ntsoelengoe

Football Journalist


Galaxy coach expecting tough tie against ‘unpredictable’ Pirates

“From the way I see them, there are three kinds of Pirates attacks," says Ramoreboli.


Jwaneng Galaxy coach Morena Ramoreboli admits that they will facing a difficult clash against Orlando Pirates in the final preliminary round of the Caf Champions League.

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Ramoreboli says what makes Pirates a difficult team to play against is because they are unpredictable.

“It’s definitely going to be difficult game, because at the moment Pirates rely on general tactics and their counter attacks. So, they are just unpredictable. You can’t know what to expect when you are going to play against them,” the Jwaneng Galaxy coach told Phakaaathi.

“From the way I see them, there are three kinds of Pirates attacks. There is that Pirates with Thembinkosi Lorch. When he plays, you will see them passing the ball with fluidity. Then there is a Pirates of Patrick Maswanganyi. With Maswanganyi, they overload and always look for spaces to do damage. Thirdly, there is also Dlamini (Pirates). With Dlamini, you will know that they will play direct.

“So, when you prepare, you prepare for all those types of plays because you can never know what they will bring. Plus at the moment maybe Lorch and Dlamini are not ready to play because we have seen Maswanganyi playing a lot.”

Ramoreboli also added that another thing that works out well for coach Jose Riveiro at Pirates it is the depth in his squad.

“Pirates has a lot of players and they are quality players. So, that also works well for them. For instance, even in defence, you can never know who will be their central pairing. There is Innocent Maela, Tapelo Xoki, Nkosinathi Sibisi and there is also Olisa Ndah,” he continued.

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“You never know what to expect. But we will make sure that we prepare ourselves as much as we can.”

Ramoreboli once made a name for himself when he led a little-known Maluti FET College to a 4-1 win against Pirates in the 2012/13 Nedbank Cup. Lorch was in Ramoreboli’s team.

Now at the held of Galaxy, Ramoreboli will be eager to once again get a positive result against Pirates as they meet for the first leg in Botswana on Saturday.