Mamelodi Sundowns forward Lucas Ribeiro doesn’t seem to have a weakness but his coach Miguel Cardoso may have revealed what makes him ineffective.
The 26-year-old has been without a doubt the best player in the Betway Premiership this season. The Brazilian-born attacker has scored a remarkable 12 goals in 18 league appearances and also provided a further six assists.
His coach Miguel Cardoso said that the Brazilian needs to be fresh to fire upfront. If Lucas Ribeiro is fatigued, Sundowns won’t be as effective.
“Lucas is no doubt a quality player, but he’s also a player that needs freshness,” said Cardoso.
“I think he’s a player that is very explosive and to be explosive you need freshness.
“And he’s trying to cope with the effort that he’s been doing, and the best way we’re trying to let him be as more to recover as much as possible between matches, but it has been very tough for him.
“Because explosive players are the ones that suffer more from fatigue, and he lives from these explosive actions,” he added.
Lucas Ribeiro has been the best Sundowns player this season
“And I think he’s doing less numbers of explosive actions due to the fact that he’s tired.
“But once he does, he does it in quality and today he had a couple of them and two fantastic individual tactical execution, he made a wonderful goal. He really put it in the right way.
“I hope he makes more years in the club, but I also hope one day he can express himself in a higher level of course,” Cardoso said as per SABC Sport.
It remains to be seen if Lucas Ribeiro will remain at Sundowns next season given how influential he was been. European clubs might come knowing, but Cardoso claims he won’t stand in the way.
“A coach always wants best for the players, and I always tell them, ‘I love to work with whoever you are, but in the end, if you can go for better, just go please’!”
How good has Ribeiro been this season?
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