Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes Relebohile Mofokeng’s success has been down to the tough love he has been receiving from coaches at the club.
Mofokeng has carried his great form into the new season having bagged four goals and five assists in 16 games and continues to be among Pirates’ most consistent performers.
The winger played a part in the Buccaneers’ 1-0 win over Richards Bay on Tuesday as the club recorded their seventh straight league win and his coach feels he is flourishing because of the good environment he operates in.
Tough love has worked for Rele Mofokeng at Pirates
“He is in a good moment, like the rest of the team, they are confident right now to play their football to express themselves when you have such a talent,” said Riveiro.
“In the end, as coaches what we provide is structure and space for them to express themselves to execute and show his skills
“The confidence in the players is to be consistent and give them responsibility more than nice words when they play or not play but, in our case, every player upfront in this team is really talented with the capacity to create a lot of problems for the opponent.”
What message does Riveiro have for the youngster?
Riveiro, however, feels Mofokeng, who turned 20 in October, must keep his feet on the ground if he has to have a long and successful career as any wrong move would be catastrophic.
“Rele is one of the cases and how far a 19, 17, 20 or 21 years old with that level of talent the future belongs to you,” he added.
“It is about many things but the young players must control what they can control which is the things they do, how professional they are and how dedicated they are in their lives because in modern football, to be in the first XI, you need to be a professional player 24 hours per day.”
