“I don’t think Cardoso is the right choice for Sundowns now and I don’t think he’s ready to coach Sundowns,” Masilela said.
In the wake of their CAF Champions League final defeat to Pyramids FC, Mamelodi Sundowns legend Joel ‘Fire’ Masilela has called for drastic changes at the club.
Head coach Miguel Cardoso has come under intense scrutiny for his team selections across both legs of the final. The omission of club captain Themba Zwane has also drawn widespread criticism from the Masandawana faithful.
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Masilela, a member of the squad that lost to Al-Ahly in the 2001 final, did not mince his words, stating that Cardoso should be relieved of his duties. He also questioned the Portuguese manager’s tactical approach. He described Sundowns’ style in the knockout stages as overly cautious.
“I don’t think Cardoso is the right choice for Sundowns now and I don’t think he’s ready to coach Sundowns. I want to be honest and people might say I’m criticising Cardoso but it’s a fact,” Masilela said on Radio 2000.
“I don’t see Cardoso being a future coach for Mamelodi Sundowns. It’s not just about being conservative on and how he approaches the game but it’s how he plays.
“It’s just his style of play and people haven’t noticed it. We have changed the little bit and we’re playing defensive and you ask why because that is not Sundowns. We’re like Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG because we play offensive. We need to keep our culture and play our way as the Brazilians.
“This is Sundowns and you can’t change it, it’s our culture. We can score four goals and concede one or two but at the end of the day, we will win games because of our culture and that’s why we call ourselves the Brazilians.”
According to Masilela, Sundowns were fortunate to reach the final and failed to show the attacking flair that has long been associated with the club. In addition, Masilela pointed a finger at sporting director Flemming Berg, holding him partly responsible for another underwhelming campaign on the continental stage.
“I think we were just lucky … because we don’t have the best coach. We don’t have a coach that can gamble and a coach that can give us convincing results in this tournament,” Masilela added.
“We never played well and we didn’t win convincingly. Yes, we won games but the identity was not there. I don’t have any disrespect towards Mr Flemming Berg but I have to be honest, he doesn’t know the culture of Sundowns and I’m bold enough to say it. Where does he come from? Has he ever won the World Cup or won the UEFA Champions League to convince everyone?
“We shouldn’t be biased here. He failed and he’s still going to fail us so why should we keep him there because we’ll just be playing games and Sundowns is not a team like that. We’re winners and we are still the best team on the continent right now but we need someone that can make Sundowns grow better than where we are now.
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“We don’t only want to dominate the local championship because we are tired of that, we also want to dominate on the continent. The club has invested so much and yet we are still struggling to get another star. Who won the first star? It was Pitso Mosimane who is a local.”
