Former Kaizer Chiefs winger George Lebese has opened up on Orlando Pirates winger Monnapule Saleng’s swift rise since making his move from Soweto rivals Swallows FC.
ThisIsFootball.Africa spoke to Lebese in an exclusive interview.
Saleng is potentially in contention for the PSL Footballer of the Season award even though he could not earn a start in the first nine league games of the season. Adding to this, he competed in the African Nations Championship qualifiers with Bafana Bafana, and so few could have predicted that he would become such a crucial player for Bucs.
“I think he has been making good progress in improving his game, getting goals and being in the right position,” Lebese told ThisIsFootball.Africa
“He has good energy and speed which is an advantage, obviously as a professional, I hope that he keeps demanding more from himself, and looks beyond Pirates and the PSL.”
In 17 starts across all competitions, he’s now directly contributed to 18 goals and showing that sort of form that earned him the Golden Boot in the now-renamed Motsepe Foundation Championship with Free State Stars.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns winger also offered advice to the 24-year-old attacking midfielder, being left-footed and having played in a similar position at Naturena and Chloorkop.
“For me football is a game of stats, the way he is continuing, getting goals and assists is actually good for him,” continued George.
“Sometimes we play nice football and we actually have nothing to show for that, it doesn’t really count for anything. All the European teams, what they first look at is stats, how many goals are you getting, the average crosses you make per game, the assists so you should focus on that and demand each and every game to have a goal or an assist or both. Always go back and look at his games to see where he can improve.”
Saleng scored a hat-trick against the Dube Birds and will now be aiming to continue his blistering form in the Last 16 of the Nedbank Cup when they face Venda Football Academy on Saturday at Orlando Stadium.
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