Vilakazi warns Pirates: Rethink squad strategy to avoid overwhelm

Orlando Pirates legend Benedict Vilakazi has thrown down a clear challenge to head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou: rethink your squad strategy, or risk being overwhelmed by the season’s demands.

Pirates are chasing on every front. The MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns is booked. The CAF Champions League campaign is under way. The Betway Premiership race is tightening. The Carling Knockout and Nedbank Cup still lie ahead.

For Vilakazi, that calendar alone ends the argument.

“It’s very wise to have a bigger squad,” he told FARPost, pointing straight at the treatment table as Exhibit A.

Makhehlene Makhaula has picked up a knock. Thalente Mbatha is dealing with a knee injury. Sihle Nduli “got hurt badly”. Those are not theoretical risks; they are real absences in a team that is expected to deliver silverware on multiple fronts.

Clash of philosophies

Ouaddou has made no secret of his preference: a streamlined group he can manage closely. The Pirates coach believes in a tight core of 30 outfield players and four goalkeepers, convinced that going beyond that number can damage dressing-room chemistry and stall individual development.

Vilakazi respects the need for cohesion, but he sees a different danger.

“So, it’s going to be important to have a bigger squad, especially when you look at the trophies that are on the table for the team,” he argued.

He listed them one by one, like a checklist of pressure points: the Betway Premiership, the MTN8 final already secured, the looming Carling Knockout, the Nedbank Cup, the CAF Champions League.

Each competition adds minutes. Each minute adds strain. At some point, something gives.

Travel, fatigue and “fresh legs”

For Vilakazi, the real trap sits between matches, not just inside them.

“It’s important to have a bigger squad so that your players don’t get fatigued,” he stressed. “Travelling plays a part in fatigue. That is one thing a lot of people don’t think of. Travelling can also cause fatigue.”

The long-haul trips across the continent, awkward connections, late arrivals back in Johannesburg – those details rarely show up on a team sheet, but they show on tired legs and heavy touches.

That is where Vilakazi believes depth stops being a luxury and becomes a necessity. He wants Pirates to have “fresh legs” ready to step in immediately after a CAF assignment, without forcing the same core to carry the load every three days.

“So that’s where you need a [big] pool of players,” he said, “so that those who went to CAF come two days before the other game, and at least you can add one or two to the team that is there and carry on with the team.”

High stakes, thin margins

Ouaddou’s model is built on control: a group small enough to keep sharp, motivated and tactically aligned. Vilakazi’s warning is built on experience: seasons are not won in theory, they are survived in reality.

Right now, the reality is brutal. Pirates must keep pace in the league, take on Sundowns in a domestic final and negotiate the minefield of African competition, all while managing an injury list that is already growing.

The question now is whether Ouaddou holds his line on a “manageable” squad, or bends to the demands of a campaign that could define his tenure.