‘No one is bigger in my team’ – Sundowns new coach outlines philosophy
Newly-appointed Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has given a detailed explanation of the philosophy he wants to implement at the club.
Cardoso was officially unveiled as the new Sundowns head coach during a press conference at Chloorkop on Tuesday. He replaces Manqoba Mngqithi. The latter was shown the exit door following a series of “unsatisfactory results” as per the club’s high standards.
Mngqithi leaves Sundowns alongside his technical team of Wendell Robinson and Romain Folz, who had recently joined the club.
The former Esperance coach – Cardoso joins Masandawana with his three assistants, Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo and João Araújo. His first match in charge could be in the CAF Champions League when they face Raja Casablanca, coached by Rulani Mokwena, on Saturday.
The 52-year-old says he wants to see a team that possesses a positive attitude and fights together.
HOW THE NEW MAMELODI SUNDOWNS COACH WANTS HIS SIDE TO PLAY MOVING FORWARD
“I want a team that can control the games. Controlling the games means the team must be solid in all four moments of the game,” explained Cardoso.
“You must understand very well what to do with the ball, obviously. But as I have in mind and clear, you have to have the ball to move to find the right spaces.
“As much as you control the game, there are moments when you will lose the ball. You need to be strong at the moment, and the team needs to grow a lot. For that, you need to have high solidarity among the players. I prefer the players to run for three or four seconds. Make an effort to recover the ball immediately,” he added.
MIGUEL CARDOSO SENDS A STRONG MESSAGE TO HIS PLAYERS AS HE EXPLAINS HIS PHILOSOPHY
Cardoso asserts that the current Sundowns team possesses the potential for a winning mentality, which necessitates a heightened level of collective motivation.
He emphasised the importance of close player interaction, particularly within the framework of offensive strategies.”
“We have players with that mentality that probably needs to be stimulated. They need to be closer to each other for that moment, and that comes from the offensive organisation, he said.
“There will be no player who will be more important than the team with me. Believe me, no one. We only do a task as a group. Football is a collective sport, not an individual sport. It’s not A B C D or 1 2 3. It’s how we can be together. The difficulties will come, and we will overcome them when we are together.
“We also need to be stronger on set pieces because they are also important in the game. We need to highlight that also. But work is time and time you win by winning games, and that’s what we want. You win on the first day of the week, on the first training of the week and this is the first mentality I will bring to the club.
“The true winners don’t come from perfection; they come from consistency. We need to be ambitious; ambitious is not something you say. It’s what you show. It’s an attitude. No one kills an attitude, no one. It’s impossible.”
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