FORMER Orlando Pirates midfielder Teko Modise has shed light on what he thinks is the reason behind the club’s inability to keep up with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Modise spent five years at the Soweto giants, reaching perhaps his best-ever form between 2007 and 2011 before a blockbuster move across the Gauteng province to the Brazilians at Chloorkop.
The 41-year-old won the league three times in both Pirates and Sundowns colours, he also lifted the Telkom Knockout and CAF Champions League medals before going on to finish his career at Cape Town City.
Modise spoke to the media whilst in Durban this week attending a Hollywoodbets initiative, a brand he’s also aligned with nowadays.
He touched on various football topics from throughout the league but it was his Pirates’ views that carried the heaviest weight.
“It’s very difficult because everyone wants Orlando Pirates to be the ones that challenge Sundowns but looking at the gap now, realistically Pirates are playing for a Champions League spot not the league per se,” said Modise.
The Sea Robbers were prematurely pinpointed as the team closest to ending Sundowns near decade-long dominance in the league but those aspirations quickly evaporated as they dropped points early in the first round.
With seven games of the season to go, Pirates find themselves third on the DStv Premiership standings with 15 points separating them and log leaders Sundowns.
They’ve been resigned to competing for a place in the CAF Champions League in the last segment of the 2023/2024 campaign.
Having already won the MTN8 competition for the second season in a row, the opportunity to defend the Nedbank Cup remains for Pirates having qualified for the quarter-final (they face AmaZulu in Durban this afternoon).
Teko expressed that it is the Pirates’ failure to replicate their cup form into the league that has been their downfall, alongside their negligence in being able to grind results away from home.
Pirates have won three, lost a further three and drawn five of their 12 away matches this season, collecting just 14 points, a huge difference in their home form that saw them record 23 points.
“What troubles Pirates is the consistency, they play so well in Cup competitions, they have the know-how in terms of winning cup competitions but the consistency within the league becomes a problem,” Modise said
“You look at their record away from home this season, it’s not convincing, it’s not the form of a team that should be winning the league so if they can balance winning both home and away next season then they’ll stand a good chance of challenging.”
Pirates have now gone over a decade without lifting a league title having last done so back-to-back in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 seasons under both Ruud Krol and Augusto Palacios.
Head coach Jose Riveiro is said to be quickly gathering pressure from within the club’s management to win a league medal despite his impressive run in Cup competitions.