Renowned as an attack-minded coach, Jose Riveiro has found himself on the defensive over comments made by South African football legend Jomo Sono about Patrick Maswanganyi donning the number 10 shirt at Orlando Pirates.
'Bra J' delivered a scathing analysis when asked for comment on Maswanganyi's readiness to don number 10 – a jersey worn on a regular season by only a handful of players at Pirates over the years, including Sono himself, Percy 'Chippa' Moloi, King 'Kaizer Matatazela' Mkhwanazi, Blessing 'Killer' Mgidi, and most recently Steve Lekoelea (2001).
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The former dribbling wizard warned against comparisons by using an analogy of an 'elephant' and an 'ant' that left some sections of the football community befuddled.
There have been suggestions that 'Tito' has been affected by the criticism from the club legend.
Maswanganyi has registered just a single goal from 15 appearances across all competitions so far this term.
However, the 26-year-old has received plenty of backing from Riveiro, who said on MSW (Marawa Sports Worldwide) he still has full confidence in Maswanganyi.
"'Tito' loves to play football. Tito is a different animal when he's on the field. It's where he can express himself and show the best of himself," Riveiro said.
"When you have players like him, who always want to be on the ball, which for me is something to highlight because it doesn't matter what happens on the field - if we need a goal, if we need two, we are losing a final, he is one of the players who always want the ball.
"That's why sometimes it's also in the tough side of the game, when we think about if he's losing the ball or he's not losing the ball, they are kicking him or not, he is diving or not diving. It's that kind of stuff, it's because he always wants that responsibility.
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"And in that period that you mentioned before [when Jomo made the comments], it was exactly the same. So, that makes me feel that he feels the support already without even talking about it.
"But he's a boy who just wants to be on the field and play football," explains the Spanish coach.
Maswanganyi, a darling of the Buccaneers fanbase, will have yet another opportunity to don the iconic jersey in two weeks time when Pirate play CR Belouizdad of Algeria in the opening game of the CAF Champions League group stage.