Mamelodi Sundowns star Sphelele Mkhulise has been urged to display a healthy arrogance to displace household names such as Gaston Sirino and Marcelo Allende in the Brazilians' line-up.
Mkhulise has made just four appearances this season with a solitary goal.
For all his celebrated talent, the 26-year-old has found himself in the shadows of the likes of Gaston Sirino and Marcelo Allende whose contributions always tick important boxes in the modern game.
"It is not like they are here because they are better than him, but he is not arrogant enough to show them what he has," says Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
READ | Frustrated Pirates striker inching ever closer to exit door
"He has the arrogance for ball possession.
"I want the arrogance for goals and creating goals, and once that arrogance is at the right level, I know the kind of player that I have and I'm very confident he will make it.
"Even to those who still think they have a chance to get him away from us there is no chance," says Mngqithi while giving further tips.
"I want to reaffirm that he is one of the most talented players that South Africa has ever produced.
"I'm not talking because he is here.
"The reason why we promoted him is that we wanted something close to Themba Zwane and something that can help us in the attacking third and his game has been lacking in assisting the assist, assisting, or scoring.
"That is what we have been working very hard on and that is what we are trying very hard to improve.
"Few very people know that he is such a good dribbler because he is an introvert and plays a game that is not as arrogant as you would like it to be.
"With a little bit of arrogance for offensive players, it makes them tick and be always in positions that will help determine the result of the game.
"In terms of consolidating our play he is one player that we know when we are not playing well, we have always gone back to him and say to him 'make the team play'.
"But it is not enough because when you are making the line-up you are looking at all these matrixes, goals, expected assists, expected runs into the box and if they are not coming right for an offensive player it ends up creating problems for the player.
"Fortunately, he is a boy that I speak to a lot, and I can guarantee that I can see the improvement that we are all looking for from him.
"It is important to put your name on the team sheet with assists, runs into the box, and goals because when you are always part of the final product you stand a chance of always winning the hearts of coaches because we also don't want to lose our jobs.
"I know what I have in this boy, and I do believe that this is the season for him to show us that," says Mngqithi.
You must be Sign In to read and post comments.
Click here to register: Sign In