Orlando Pirates' Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou Emphasizes People Over Tactics
Orlando Pirates’ new head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou did not talk about tactics first. He talked about people.
On a Tuesday afternoon, in front of the cameras and microphones, the Moroccan made it clear: at Pirates, football is only part of the story. The Soweto giants, he insisted, are a social force as much as a sporting institution, a club that finds talent in the most unlikely corners of South Africa and pushes it onto the global stage.
“I think you know better than me the club of Orlando Pirates,” he began, almost deferential to the history he has walked into. Then he went straight to the heart of what he believes sets the Buccaneers apart.
“They are very involved in the social matter and what I like is, they give the platform to local players. They can scout them from far away from Johannesburg. Sometimes they can find a player in the village and it's the beauty of football and they make them grow, grow, grow until they send them abroad.”
That, for Ouaddou, is not a slogan. It is the club’s identity. He points to the journeys of Relebohile Mofokeng and Mbekezeli Mbokazi as living proof.
“For me, the story of [Relebohile] Mofokeng, the story of [Mbekezeli] Mbokazi and the story of other players to be at the World Cup and to see them playing at such a high level. This is the story of Pirates, and they continue like that.”
Rapoo steps into the spotlight
Into this narrative steps Neo Rapoo.
The young left-back, signed from Siwelele FC and moulded in the SuperSport United development system, has wasted no time in announcing himself. Pre-season under Ouaddou has been intense, and Rapoo has not shrunk from it. He has embraced it.
He is not walking into a vacancy. On the left side, he is up against Deon Hotto and Nkosikhona Ndaba, established names with their own ambitions. Yet in those gruelling sessions, the newcomer has shown enough technical sharpness and physical power to convince his coach that he belongs in this fight.
For Ouaddou, Rapoo is not an outlier. He is the next chapter.
“Rapoo is part of this process, like the other players, young players. I think you have to understand Pirates is a family,” the coach said, leaning into a word that kept returning in his answers.
“I felt this feeling the first day that I signed for that club and from the board inside the club you can see this kindness. They take care about you, and they want you to be successful, whoever came in the club.”
Family, in this case, is not a cliché. It is a structure that must absorb and elevate new talent without tearing itself apart.
Senior core sets the tone
Ouaddou played 17 years in Europe and Africa. He has seen dressing rooms fracture when youth knocks on the door. He has seen veterans close ranks to protect their status.
At Pirates, he says, something different is happening.
“The senior players, they have this legacy. They have this legacy and they are honest people,” he explained. “Because I’ve been playing football for 17 years and I can tell you that sometimes it not the case because when there are new players coming, they are coming, to take positions.
“But here, the senior players, they're fighting to keep their position, which is good for me. And in the same times, they welcome them in the club and they help them to set them in the club…”
It is a delicate balance: competition without resentment, ambition without sabotage. According to the coach, Pirates’ leadership group has embraced that responsibility, preparing the likes of Rapoo and Ndaba for the demands of the professional game while still guarding their own places in the XI.
For a club with serious ambitions across all competitions, that internal harmony is not a luxury. It is a weapon.
Ouaddou is already looking beyond the human chemistry to the technical demands of his model, and again, Rapoo and Ndaba sit at the centre of his thinking.
Modern full-backs for a demanding model
The Moroccan is clear about what he wants from his full-backs. They cannot simply defend. They must run, combine, cross, and score. They must live high up the pitch and repeat those efforts for 90 minutes, week after week.
“They are full of quality, in terms of capacity to repeat efforts, and if you see our game model it's very demanding they're able to combine in the last third,” he said of his emerging full-back pair.
“They're playing high. They're able to score, they're able to give you a fantastic cross and the particularity of Rapoo is somebody who is able to be efficient in the set pieces.”
Set pieces. Final-third combinations. Relentless running. In a season where Pirates are expected to fight on four fronts, those qualities are not optional. They are essential. Rotation will not be a buzzword; it will be a survival plan.
Ouaddou is convinced Rapoo can carry that load.
“So, I think he will bring his competences to our group, as you know we have a lot of games. I'm sure he will be successful and overall, he is a top man and very professional.”
From village pitches to the Betway Premiership, from anonymous promise to a coach’s public backing, Neo Rapoo now stands where so many Pirates stories have begun. The question is no longer whether the club can provide the platform.
It is how high this latest full-back can climb once he steps onto it.
