Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says the best version of Patrick Maswnaganyi is yet to come after his Bafana Bafana call-up.
The 25-year-old playmaker was a surprise signing at Pirates in the off-season after less than 12 months at SuperSport United after a couple of years in the lower league of Portugal.
And the former Stars of Africa Academy talent has excelled under Riveiro with five goals and seven assists in 28 games across all competitions, an exceptional improvement after not finding the net for Matsatsansa but showing his incredible technical ability.
“It’s not me as a coach, it’s the environment, it’s the players around him, it’s the way we try to play, he benefits from those things more than… I don’t like to get the credit for those transformations or improvements,” Riveiro said about Mansgwanyi’s call-up.
“It’s everyone around the players, we try to help them to get better, to make them feel confident, to trust themselves, first of all, if they have the level of confidence that Tito used to show in games, it has nothing to do [with me].
“I’m happy for the boy because it’s not easy to make it, to play for Pirates, it’s not easy to do it in the way that he’s doing, hopefully, he can continue improving because I think there’s room and space for him to be more complete, be a better player, more consistent.
“I think it’s going to happen, it’s a guy who loves to play football, it’s easy to see, and with that approach, the only thing that will happen to him from now until the end of his career, hopefully in 10 or 12 years, is improvement, so I think his best version is still coming.”
