Game management key ingredient in Cardoso’s perfect Sundowns start

The Portuguese mentor was speaking after masterminding his fourth straight win in charge of The Brazilians, beating Richards Bay 2-0 on Saturday to remain top of the Betway Premiership log table.

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Cardoso did so following several notable changes to his starting line-up, and he explains why the likes of striker Iqraam Rayners had to come from the bench.

''We have to deal with the condition every moment. A coach as they say in England is a manager - it means you have to manage a group not only in terms of emotional and psychological stage, but their condition as well. And I have a good team that advises me in terms of player assessment. For example we knew that Grant would not sustain the entire game, and we knew that Terrence would not finish the game, so the plan was to substitute the two of them but, games have to be won and we took a risk with Terrence,'' said Cardoso.

Sundowns have now collected nine points since the arrival of Cardoso – away to Stellenbosch, AmaZulu and Richards Bay.

The other victory was at home against Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League group stage, and the coach is pleased with the collective effort.

''I think we had good answers from the players who played, and most of all I have seen good commitment. I think that in the first half we were not very clever in terms of using spaces at the back of the defense, we didn't think Richards Bay would press us so high. In the first action we did, we scored, but I think we did much better in the second half, we tried to do  better.  We tried to cope with the dry pitch, but we pleaded with the PSL to water the pitch. This will increase the quality of football, and yes people will say your players are more technical and can handle it. But, what kind of football do we want to sell, we have to do better for the interest of football,'' added Cardoso.

Cardoso suggests this approach isn’t likely to change considering their upcoming fixture schedule.

''I think it is important to understand that despite the first game we played at home, the other three games we played away. We are in a lot of away matches, but the fact that we are winning and are fighting to win is very important and hope we can keep that for a long time,'' added Cardoso.

The Sundowns coach adds that he was even more impressed that his team could sustain the onslaught from Richards Bay, who spent two weeks without a game while his charges played three in that period.