Cardoso Defends Player Selection After Sundowns’ Loss To Galaxy
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso defended his player selections after their 1-0 loss to TS Galaxy, the team’s second league defeat this season and Cardoso’s first since taking charge.
The match, played at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday night, saw Cardoso make several changes to the starting lineup from their dominant win over Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Kegan Johannes made his first league start for Sundowns at right-back, replacing the rested Thapelo Morena. However, Johannes struggled and was substituted at halftime after receiving a yellow card.
Tashreeq Matthews, who also didn’t start against Pirates, joined Lucas Ribeiro Costa and Peter Shalulile in the front three but was also unable to make a significant impact. He was later replaced by Iqraam Rayners, who had started the Pirates game.
When questioned about whether resting regular players and bringing in those with less playing time disrupted the team’s rhythm, Cardoso said he believed he should have made even more changes.
“I don’t believe so,” Cardoso stated.
“At the end of the game, I think I should have changed three or four players, for sure.” He explained his thinking behind the initial selections, saying the intention was to capitalize on the energy and consistency of the players who finished the previous game strongly. “So, we wanted the players to have that responsibility to have that consistency and they tried, they tried. It has nothing to do with other players being better,” he added.
Cardoso highlighted the difficulty his team faced against Galaxy’s organized defense. “They made the first half that was not easy because many times it was a line of six, the wingbacks, they were following our full backs and make a defensive line of six, it was quite difficult to overcome.”
He concluded, “But we tried, our best to give maximum and nothing else to say. After the game, everyone can have an opinion and everybody will do it in a different way. We fought a lot, we analysed a lot, and we discussed a lot in order to make our decisions. But importantly, we will rise even stronger, for sure.”
