What Zinnbauer brought to Orlando Pirates – Memela
Having inherited a side that was low on confidence and lying at the bottom half of the table when he was appointed in December last year, Josef Zinnbauer has transformed Orlando Pirates into a title-challenging side.
Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer.
Before the season was halted by the coronavirus outbreak, the Buccaneers were lying fourth on the Absa Premiership table with 40 points after 23 games, trailing log leaders Kaizer Chiefs by eight points. However, Amakhosi have a game in hand over Pirates.
READ: Gauteng clubs show interest in Pirates defender
Zinnbauer’s arrival has also seen the return to form of forward Luvuyo Memela and the Cape Town-born player has revealed what the Serbian mentor has brought to Pirates.
“He brought stability, unity, love and fun,” Memela told New Frame.
“In football you need stability, you need to have fun and enjoy the game at training. He brought those things, along with discipline. Not that we didn’t have discipline before, but he made it clear that when he says a 12 o’clock meeting, you need to be there 15 minutes before.
“At training, he has made everyone feel comfortable and feel at home. He didn’t want any player to feel like, ‘Okay, I am going to work now.’ He said, ‘You aren’t going to work, you are going to have fun. When you were young, you got out at home to chase the ball and were so excited when your mother told you that you can go out and play, because you knew that you were going to run and chase the ball.’
“It’s all about luck. If you check amajita [the guys], even last year we were playing well but it was just that luck wasn’t on our side,” Memela said.
“The other thing that we improved on is to try and cut chances for the other teams and to not concede many goals. We are trying, we are still not there because in football nothing is perfect. That’s what changed. And we started winning. The more you win, the more confident you are. That’s what has happened to us.”
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