In his first season with the Buccaneers, Riveiro won the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup and also finished second in the DStv Premiership standings. This season he has already won the MTN8 and Pirates are in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup where they will meet AmaZulu away in Durban.
Its unfair to say that coach Jose is only a cup winning coach and not a league winning coach. I mean which other coach has been winning the league except the Sundowns coaches? Look at him coming to join Pirates almost two years ago, what has he achieved. So we cant overlook the things he has done because he has not won the league title. We saw how Pirates did in the second half of the season last season. We want to see that again this season. We want to see Pirates competing with Sundowns because when Pirates and Chiefs compete with Sundowns, then our league becomes exciting. But I cant sit here and say that coach Riveiro has not done well because he has not won the league, thats an understatement, said Modise during an interview with Phakaaathi. Pirates the only team to compete with Sundowns Modise added that Pirates are a growing team under Riveiro and that they may give Sundowns a run for their money soon.
Mamelodi Sundowns have a way (of winning the league), they have a formula. So we cant look it in way and say Pirates have a problem because they are not winning the league. Who has been winning the league in the past 10 seasons? Its been Mamelodi Sundowns! If you then say Pirates have a problem then the other 14 teams in the league also have a problem. So we cant just look at one team and say Pirates have a problem because theyre not winning the league, no, were have to look at it holistically. The other 15 teams in the league need to come to the party and not only compete against Sundowns, but amongst themselves to make the league competitive. Im not sure what Pirates ambitions are, but I think they also want to play the Champions League again and they need to do well in the league to qualify for it . Looking at the squad and the quality of the team, Pirates maybe the only team right now that can maybe compete with Sundowns, which we know how difficult that may be. concluded Modise.
