Al Wahda are finally beginning to see the best of Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak after a difficult start to life in the Emirates, according to Clarets team-mate Sebastian Tagliabue.
The 29-year-old former PSV and Dynamo Moscow forward was signed from Turkey’s Bursaspor in August following an impressive Euro 2016 campaign for his country – during which he scored two spectacular goals in a thrilling 3-3 draw with eventual champions Portugal.
However, a combination of missing the majority of pre-season with the Al Nahyan outfit, arriving during the stifling UAE summer and being away on World Cup 2018 qualifying duty with Hungary have led to underwhelming performances at club level.
But after following up his first Clarets goal in a 2-1 defeat to Al Wasl a week ago with another in Friday’s 5-1 thrashing of Al Nasr, Wahda’s lethal marksman Tagliabue believes his new team-mate’s undoubted talent is starting to shine through.
“I think now he is 85/90 per cent adapted,” said the Argentine frontman, whose second goal against the Blue Wave also arrived courtesy of a Dzsudzsak assist.
“He has to adapt to everything; the team, the coach, the weather. Also he needs confidence and I think from the last game against Wasl and today he has got a lot of confidence. Also he has scored two goals and this is very good for him.”
Also telling in Friday’s morale-boosting victory against struggling Nasr was the fact it was the first time Dzsudzsak completed 90 minutes for his new side, having played 60, 68, 45, 45 and been an unused substitute in his previous five games.
After a dour opening half, the game burst into life in the second period with both Dzsudzsak and Chilean Jorge Valdivia at their creative best, while several of Wahda’s youngsters also shone, like Mohamed Al Akbari, Mohammed Al Menhali and Khalid Bawazir.