Silva: More To Come From Muniz

Marco Silva is naturally delighted with Rodrigo Muniz’s current form, but believes there is still much more to come from the young Brazilian.

Muniz has scored seven goals in as many games, most recently bagging a brace against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, though a precautionary substitution denied him the opportunity to sniff out a first hat-trick in English football.

Speaking in his press conference at the end of that game, Silva agreed with the media’s assessment that his number 19 had been unplayable once more.

“What a performance again,” he said. “Unfortunately, he was feeling a little bit tired in one of his legs, a little bit in the hamstring as well, and was a moment for us not to take risks with him. But what a performance again.

“It’s not just the goals. The way he's been improving and the hard work that he's putting in every single week from the beginning of the season and, I have to say, from the first season that he was with us as well. And it's paying off right now.

“It’s a great feeling for me as a manager, because I pushed the football club to buy him two, three years ago when I first joined the Club. Myself and my staff saw something in him, I felt he was the right player to join our football club.

“First season was okay for him, it was a good one. Unfortunately, last season [at Middlesbrough] didn't work out for him, but from this pre-season we felt that he was going in the right direction.

“He had some injuries that stopped a little bit his development as a football player. And, after, we had to show the patience. When you're a football player, sometimes there are some moments that you feel have been tough, [but] you cannot give up, and he never gave up.

“Even in some moments when he was not even involved in the squad list, he was always working really hard, and when a chance came he stepped in, and this is the most important thing for a football player.

“I'm really pleased for him, he deserves all the credit for what he's been achieving. But the good thing that I keep seeing, there are so many things for him to improve, to work with him to develop. Much more to come from him, for sure.”

While Antonee Robinson secured the Club’s Man of the Match award, Muniz took home the Premier League’s version of the accolade on Saturday, ticking a significant milestone off his bucket list in the process.

“I was with him now before I came here and he was there with the award from the Man of the Match, and he was saying to me that he was waiting almost three years for that,” Silva revealed.

“But the reality is that there is much more to come from him, and much more to fight for.

“We have always a big influence on all the players that join our football club in the last two-and-a-half years. Now, to have a player like him to work with and to keep developing, a 22-year-old player, is a great feeling.

“We are here to help him to keep improving, to demand more and more from him, because I know that he's capable to do more.”