Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says it’s matter of time before Lucas Ribeiro Costa explodes again after his recent lack of goal contributions.
Costa is one of the favourites for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Footballer of the Season award but has yet to show his prolific domestic form in the CAF Champions League, despite being ranked their most creative player in the competition this season.
He’s scored two goals with one assist in 10 games in the competition this season and notably getting special attention from opponents in the knockout stages, but it’s not something that concerns Cardoso.
“I totally understand the question and I think it’s important to comment… after Lucas made the goals in those matches against Pirates and Chiefs, after that it was clear all the teams were worried so much about him, closing him with two or three players,” Cardoso said.
“It’s made his job much more difficult and because of that we don’t see him so free on the pitch, what is important is that the team understands that when there’s two, three players on him, there’s other spaces on the pitch that should be used, we should relate to that.
“Also, himself, he should understand when he receives so much pressure, he should release the ball and let the others play, so that he can position himself in order to find spaces and play…”
Cardoso believes the quality of the Brazilian… makes it inevitable that his goal scoring form and contributions to the team will return due to the enormous quality he possesses, while he’s not slowed down in working hard off the pitch.
“Lucas and other players in the team are players who can make the difference, in the decisive moments these players should inspire and bring the individuality they can bring for the service of the team,” he continued.
“Lucas will be like the ketchup, when you start asking [and hitting the bottle] for it to go out and then suddenly boof! It comes a lot more than it’s supposed to.
“I think that will come naturally for Lucas because he’s working normally, so I just think he can be stable enough to make that moment arrive and appear. Football is like that, as you said – it’s important we can move forward.”
Costa has scored 16 goals with 11 assists in 40 games across all competitions this season.
