Mamelodi Sundowns legend blasts 'ineffective' Miguel Cardoso for being complacent against 'hoodoo team'

Coach Miguel Cardoso stayed true to his word and rotated his squad against TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 outing. 

However, things didn't go as planned as Sphamandla Ngwenya and Junior Zindoga sent Masandawana home as the Rockets won 2-0.

The team selection, their performance and the way Miguel Cardoso responded to adversity against The Rockets has come under fierce fire from Sello 'Page' Mahlangu.

“If you think about it carefully, we cannot claim ignorance of this outcome because Galaxy has consistently proven to be our ‘hoodoo’ team, they conduct their preparations diligently," Mahlangu told KickOff.

,"The approach was inconsistent, which led to poor cohesion in the first half. Without a clear philosophy, players tend to perform aimlessly.

“Previous Sundowns coaches have often fielded significantly different line-ups from one match to the next, yet the incoming players were able to perform in accordance with the tactics of those they replaced. 

"This was not the case on Saturday, and the team was evidently struggling."

“In the second half, Cardoso attempted to make adjustments, but it was too late to correct the course," he said.

"This serves as a valuable lesson for him regarding his understanding of South African football. He has once again placed pressure on himself.

“Judging by the current situation at Sundowns, the changes seen on Saturday were unnecessary, though only he knows his motivations for doing so. 

"Only Cardoso knows what he was trying to prove.

“It has ultimately backfired, as it appears that his philosophy is flawed and the players are unable to implement it. 

"If your non-regular players are unable to adapt to your tactics, then it indicates that your philosophy is ineffective,” the former midfielder concluded.

After the match Cardoso used his media duties to throw his players under the bus, instead of taking responsibility himself. 

"Look, we need to be objectively clear on the analysis, the goals that we suffered had to do with the line-up," Cardoso said.

"There are individual mistakes that you obviously cannot make. It’s time to go home and rest, please, and obviously understand who’s able to be on the level of those matches or not.

“Because we cannot make those mistakes, it means everything is wrong; it’s not just evaluation that we need to do, we need to go beyond that, but we also need to understand who deserves these opportunities that we’re giving them," the 53-year-old concluded.