Former Wydad Athletic Club head coach Rulani Mokwena has made a bold claim about attacking midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch saying he can still do more, and he is a man for big stages.
Lorch joined Wydad on a six-month loan from Mamelodi Sundowns and the 31-year-old has made a good impression in Morocco having played 16 matches across all competitions with three goals under his belt. The former PSL Player of the Season has also travelled with Wydad to the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA where his side is in Group G with Manchester City, Juventus and Al Ain.
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Mokwena is the man who recruited Lorch to the Botola League and he told iDiski Times Digital Editor David Kappel in edition 208 of the newspaper about the player’s gradual progress and how he can be his best.
“Lorch has the talent, and we all know that,” Mokwena told iDiski Times.
“He’s a player I like a lot for the final third because he has a lot of weapons. When he’s at his best, he influences the result. His adaptation has been gradual. I think he should be scoring more, and I told him this. We worked on certain movements and situations, and he knows how to finish and find the spaces around the box.
“The legs don’t allow for movements from deeper areas that then place greater physical demands in making movements towards the box. This is why he needs to be a bit more patient in movement, receiving the ball, and arriving in spaces than earlier in his career.”
“In recent friendlies, Wydad’s adjustments are evident—more structured in a mid to low block without possession and him having to defend the wide channel on the left makes him play further away from the box because he has to defend closer to [Ayoub] Boucheta in this role and assist [El Mehdi] Moubarik and [Mickael] Malsa or [Ismail] Moutaraji in protecting the left half space and extent the midfield line to protect zone14.
“Maybe this is why they didn’t really create clear chances, creating just 0.8 expected goals (xG) in both games. He can do more and will help the team a lot. He loves a big stage.”
