Orlando Pirates' Zinnbauer questions Hunt's tactics in Kaizer Chiefs triumph

Orlando Pirates head coach Josef Zinnbauer appears to have questioned the tactics of his counterpart Gavin Hunt after the Soweto Derby match on Sunday. 

The Buccaneers succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Amakhosi in a massive PSL encounter which was played at the iconic FNB Stadium. 

Zinnbauer was annoyed by Hunt's tactics, as Amakhosi played a 'deep block' despite being the home team, with the German suggesting that he could never adopt such a negative approach.

"We saw in the first-half we don't have enough power in the final third, it's possible the game gives us the information, it's possible they stay very deep most of the time with a low block," Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV, "and this was the reason we wanted a little bit of offence. 

"'Figo' [Linda Mntambo] and Ntsiki [Ntsikelelo Nyauza] were not bad in the game but we needed more," he added. "[Kabelo' Dlamini you always find in the small space, solution, Ndlovu played very well in the last game as a full-back.

"This was the reason, not that 'Ntsiki' or Linda was bad, this was only for tactical aspects," he continued. "We won before three games against Kaizer Chiefs, the supporters were happy, this is football if you don't have the right performance on the right day and you don't have the luck."

Amakhosi were happy to sit back and allowed the Buccaneers to dominate possession, but the visitors could not find the back of the net on the day. 

"I don't know they had chances yes but it's not normal you play a counter-attack play at home, for me sorry, it's not possible for me. As a coach, a home game and I play a deep block," Zinnabuer added. "The system gives Kaizer Chiefs the right, they won the game, we lost the game. The last three games [were] right today we lost but this is football.

"You have to win, we say it before, the target is three points for the supporters, a big chance you jump into second place, this is the next point [step] and 100 derbies, this is 100 percent what the players want but it was not our day today."

Zinnbauer was disappointed to see the Bucs lose especially with his side having controlled the match and they couldn't take their chances. 

"Very disappointed, the target was three points, the possibilities [were] big for us, we lead the game, we controlled the game, one mistake," he said. "We know the set-pieces, the corners, second ball we [spoke] about this, one second not ready and then they score. It's a quality we know before.

"The shots we had at goal is not enough to score and the performance was not the best but it was enough you can win the three points. This is the point that makes me upset a little bit."

Chiefs scored the only goal of the game through Samir Nurkovic in the 54th minute after Pirates had failed to clear a rare corner-kick for the hosts in the second-half. 

"They fought but we found not the normal performance we did before, this is the problem a little bit, we know the quality from Kaizer Chiefs, we know the score," Zinnbauer concluded. "It's very difficult to score against Kaizer Chiefs, what they have at the back with these headers, it's very difficult, we know it, we tried but not enough to win us the three points."

Pirates remained fourth on the PSL standings and they face Libyan side Al Ahli Benghazi away in the Caf Confederation Cup match on April 4.