Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has offered his candid assessment of the squad resources available to their fierce rivals, Orlando Pirates.
The Portuguese coach spoke about the Pirates’ depth after Sundowns played to a 1-1 draw against the Buccaneers in the Betway Premiership on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Sundowns opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a strike from Peter Shalulile, who pounced on the loose ball after Pirates couldn’t clear their line.
The Sea Robbers netted an equaliser 15 minutes later with a long-range shot from the young midfielder Camren Dansin, who was a surprise addition in the Pirates’ starting line-up.
In a match against Sundowns, Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou left out key players such as Thalente Mbatha, Kamogelo Sebelebele, Tshegofatso Mabasa, and Deano Van Rooyen, while Relebohile Mofokeng continues to be sidelined with an injury.
The exclusion of some of the key players that played a massive role last season proves the qualitative depth at Pirates disposal in the current campaign.
Sundowns coach, Cardoso, has admitted that Pirates is one of the teams with the best squad, stating that as a reason some senior players are struggling for game-time
WHAT CARDOSO SAID ABOUT PIRATES’ DEPTH
“I think what they [Pirates] did is to balance their squad much more compared to what they had in the past,” Cardoso told the media. “Nowadays, they can change players and keep a lot of pressure on the opponents with the quality they bring from the bench.
“I’ve been here for one year, I don’t know exactly what, but what I heard is that they were able to bring quality players from the market. So I asked my assistant coach and head analyst to make a list of all players in their squad. Of course, I know the squad of Orlando Pirates very well.
“And when you see that there are players who were so important for them last season and this season they don’t put a shirt on, you understand how strong the team is compared to the past.
“There are a lot of players that don’t put a shirt on, starting from the striker [Mabasa], Mbatha doesn’t play, Van Rooyen doesn’t play, even Rele, the second-best player last year, he’s not playing.”
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