Orlando Pirates could be set to enjoy a tactical shake-up following the appointment of Jose Riveiro as the club's new head coach.
Last month, the Buccaneers announced that Spanish tactician Jose Ribeiro had been appointed as the club's new head coach on a three-year deal, with the 44-year-old coming in to replace Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids at the helm.
Riveiro was most recently at the helm of FC Inter Turku in Finland where he took charge of 102 matches across all competitions, recording an impressive 54.9% win record during his 33-month spell with the club.
His appointment at Pirates could lead to a tactical shake-up in Soweto with a possible deviation from the 4-3-3 formation commonly used by Ncikazi and Davids to a system built on a back-three rather than a back-four.
During his time with Inter, Riveiro used alternated between a 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-1-2 system in more than half of his matches in charge, while also turning to a 3-4-3 approach with good success in a handful of fixtures.
That means that Bucs fans could see a back-line that includes Olisah Ndah alongside new recruits Nkosinathi Sibisi and Thapelo Xoki, who arrived in the off-season from Golden Arrows and AmaZulu, respectively, while Happy Jele is also available.
One possible variation Riveiro could use as Orlando Pirates coach
[img]https://formation-images-cdn.homecrowd.io/images/HCD/2022/7/11/FmUDnSH8rkLuyga1pFMU.png[/img] [url=https://homecrowd.io/formation/render?id=FmUDnSH8rkLuyga1pFMU]Orlando Pirates [/url]
Bandile Shandu would then operate on the right side of midfield, as a right midfielder or right-wing-back, while Innocent Maela and Paseko Mako may be required to fill the same role on the adjacent flank.
It is more likely that Riveiro will opt for an out-and-out midfielder in Deon Hotto on the left, however, and rely on the likes of Thabang Monare, Goodman Mosele or new recruit Miguel Timm to add to the defensive effort in the centre of the park.
An area of interest remains higher up the pitch though, where Pirates' recruitment of strikers Bienvenue Eva Nga and Evidence Makgoopa, to add to the existing presence of Kwame Peprah, will give the Spaniard a good headache when making his team selection.
While the 3-4-2-1 was his favoured approach at Inter, being used on 37 occasions, he may opt for the 3-4-1-2 system in order to field two of the aforementioned trio, with someone like Thembinkosi Lorch playing just behind the attacking duo.
Riveiro's preferred formations during his spell with Inter Turku