Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has explained why Monnapule Saleng is thriving in the current Buccaneers setup.
Saleng, 24, has been the star for Pirates in the last two games, scoring braces in the wins over Golden Arrows and Mamelodi Sundowns.
The speedy winger has only featured in six games this season after missing the first eight matches of his side and seemingly added a new dimension to his side, with Riveiro explaining that Saleng can only thrive because the collective is doing well.
“Saleng, like every other player, is getting benefit of the environment he has around,” he said during the pre-match press conference.
“It’s easy to play when you are surrounded by good players like he is. When one player is shining on the field it’s because he’s getting support in many different departments.
“I think it’s nice to see players shining and you will always put the players in the spotlight if they score goals or if they do some nice tricks, but there are things that are much more important that happens before and after that in order to create a team with balance, with the capacity to protect one result, to consolidate the lead, ect, ect.
“Hopefully, I would like to see that you put more players in the spotlight in the future because that would mean that more others are scoring goals as well.”
“I don’t think it’s the case [that he will get carried away],”
“It’s just a boy who wants to play football, who is having really fun every morning in the training and who is having fun still in the games. That’s why he is doing the way he is doing because he just wants to play football.
“Sometimes we need to protect the player in a way that they don’t get confused, they don’t get relaxed but I don’t think it’s the case. We try to keep an eye on all our players.
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“Usually it’s more important to keep an eye on the players who are not playing, who are not shining or not getting the good feedback from the media or from the fans, but so far we try to keep an eye on all of them, because we need all of them sooner or later.
“You talk about one boy who didn’t participate in the first games and now everybody is talking about him, there is a process behind. We need to pay now more attention on the players who are not in the spotlight right now but will be in one week or in two months.”
