NEWS: Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro believes his team has all the necessary tools to compete with Mamelodi Sundowns for league title

Pirates have finished the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons as runners-up behind the Brazilians under Jose Riveiro’s leadership.

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Since the appointment of the Spaniard tactician the Soweto giants have been tipped as the favourites to dethrone Masandwana from winning the league.

The Sea Robbers coach reveals his side lacks the consistency to challenge for the prestigious title.

“To be the best one after 30 games and to have that consistency that you need. Understanding that right now in the recent years the team who’s dominating the league is setting high standards in terms of points season after season,” Riveiro told Marawa Sports Worldwide.

“It’s a question of, in my opinion, that we get more mature as a group, players and technical staff.

“I’m not only talking about our players, that matureness, that level of matureness to accept the challenge every three days and not just sometimes.

“That’s the difference for me between a team who can really think about being the league champion or not.

“Everything else is there, the talent, the opportunities, resources, everything is in place.

“It’s about us too, as a group, as a collective, not as an individual, as a group, create that culture, that mentality to accept the challenge every two, three days.

“No matter where, no matter who, no matter the circumstances, we’re going to get the result. We are in the process to make it possible. Trust me, we are. Unfortunately, this season we were not good enough.”

The 48-year-old coach has also revealed that the gap points made by Sundowns at the start of the campaign was too much to catch.

“Sometimes we were not lucky enough in the beginning of the season.

“The distance got too big early in the first three, four months of the competition.

“From that moment, I don’t want to say that we gave up because it’s too much, but we realized early this season that it’s going to be so, so difficult understanding again that the team who has been dominating in the recent years is showing that they are not dropping many points.”

Pirates finished the 2023/24 DStv Premiership season trailing with 23 points from the league champions Mamelodi Sundowns.