‘Khuliso is solving all his issues with the club and he has been training well. We’re absolutely sure that soon he will be able to help us,’ he said.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has shed light on his decision to rotate his squad in the Betway Premiership victory over Magesi FC on Sunday.
Sundowns’ absences
Teboho Mokoena and Peter Shalulile were absent from the starting line-up following their involvement in FIFA World Cup qualifiers during the international break.
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Mokoena was left out of the match-day squad altogether, while Shalulile remained on the bench as Sundowns cruised to a 3-0 win over Dikwena tša Meetse. Cardoso stressed the importance of managing his players’ workload so early in the season.
“Teboho played two 90 minutes with the national team. As a coach, I need to manage the players in order to have them ready,” Cardoso explained.
“We have games on Wednesday and Saturday and we’ll go like that until the beginning of October. Having a chance to rotate players means that we have trust in the other ones that play. There are no issues with Teboho and we’ll see him on the pitch in the next matches.
“Peter came from a long trip and he arrived late at night and showed tiredness. Obviously, not putting him in the line-up allows him to be fresh for the future. People need to understand that I will not put whoever they want to play in the line-up. I have to manage the group and I have to manage the condition of the players in order to find the best team to perform.”
Mudau latest
Cardoso is still waiting on the return of experienced defender Khuliso Mudau, who has yet to feature this season due to a contractual dispute with the club. Cardoso expressed optimism that the Bafana Bafana international will soon return once the matter is resolved.
“Khuliso is solving all his issues with the club and he has been training well. We’re absolutely sure that soon he will be able to help us,” he said.
“He’s willing to help and people in charge of the club will take care of it with the right responsibility to put Mudau back in the service of the team. We’re working together on everything and Khuliso is training very well. There were a few issues, but most of them are already solved.
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“You also need to understand that Khuliso came from a period where he was training alone and you can’t put in an international player and expose him to a match where he’s still not able to perform to a level that people want to see.”