Cardoso urges pundits to recognise Sundowns’ rebuilding process

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says the club are rebuilding at the start of the 2026-27 season and has criticised television analysts for failing to recognise the work required to restore stability.

Sundowns have conceded four goals in their opening two matches, an unusually high total for the Betway Premiership runners-up, although they won both games 3-2. They beat Polokwane City away in the league before overcoming TS Galaxy at home in the MTN8 quarter-finals.

They then produced a dominant display against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Saturday but had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Cardoso believes the early-season uncertainty has been intensified by a series of factors, including the apparent suicide of Bafana Bafana midfielder Jayden Adams during pre-season, injuries and the late return of players who formed part of the South Africa squad at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June.

Sundowns also lost their run of eight successive league championships to Orlando Pirates in 2025-26. However, victory in the CAF Champions League, their second triumph in the competition after their 2016 success, helped offset that disappointment during Cardoso’s first full campaign in charge at Chloorkop.

Asked about the number of high-scoring matches at the beginning of the Premiership season, Cardoso said teams needed time to find their rhythm.

“I think the teams are settling down. It’s typical in South Africa, from the experience I’ve had here, that early in the season there is a lot of instability in teams. Some are still finishing the pre-season, some still getting players,” he said.

The 54-year-old Portuguese coach used Sundowns as an example of the difficulties involved in establishing a settled line-up.

“If you think about our team you may imagine how it has been settling players down, how difficult it has been to get stability.

“We received the players from the World Cup late, after a deserved, but not as long as it should have been, [almost two-week] period of rest. Some among them were not in the best condition.

“[Khulumani] Ndamane went to the World Cup but did not play a single minute. So the period of [match] inactivity was extended for him by almost two weeks [of time off]. After he started, he got injured.

“And I think those [Sundowns] fans that speak too much are the ones who don’t follow the team very well. They speak too much and understand too little.

“This team is under rebuilding. We lost so many players who are not able to contribute. It was Keanu [Cupido, injured], Jayden [Adams], Nuno Santos is in a process that doesn’t allow stability, Brayan [Leon] was injured and missed much of the pre-season and his first minutes were in the last two matches.

“I could speak about many other cases ― ‘Tebza’ [Teboho Mokoena] is out [after a first-match injury in the league win against Polokwane City].

“So, if you compare this team to the one that played the Champions League final, tell me where the similarities are because there aren’t any.”

Cardoso said the responsibility for creating a more settled team lay with the coaching staff, who were also using the situation to give opportunities to players who had previously featured less regularly.

“It’s also our job, and something I think we have been doing very well, giving opportunities to players who didn’t play so much in the past. And to bring through the young players who are showing the level, like you saw [against Chiefs] with Siyanda [Ndlovu, Downs’ 22-year-old signing from Golden Arrows] … Bennet [Mokoena, 19-year-old substitute] and the way he performed.

“There are new players. Cassius Mailula arrived [back from time spent in the US, Belgium and Morocco]. He is integrating himself, but his process of that is more simple because he was already at Sundowns. We also lost Arthur Sales, who was a very important player for us.”

The coach then directed his criticism towards television pundits whom he felt had not properly assessed Sundowns’ circumstances.

“There are a lot of dynamics we are rebuilding and we need to do it as quickly as possible. And we need to do that process as we get results we all know that.

“Because it shows, the ones [TV pundits] who understand football, [and those who don’t who] are speaking without making a proper analysis from the experiences they have from being coaches or players in the past. Because it seems that when you pass from a player or coach and you sit yourself in front of microphones, you forget what you did before.

“Obviously at Sundowns, time, work, results, everything needs to be done at the same time. And here and there, sometimes [at present] you get [the results of the work] in the last minutes or in places in matches. We will continue to progress and try to get as much stability as we can by recovering players from the past.

“[Against Chiefs] we could have been more aggressive in the first half, but we completely controlled the match. It was a very tactical match.

“But the league is there, it’s competitive, there is a lot of football to be seen, some curiosity regarding some teams from my side. But it will be a beautiful championship for sure.”

Despite the disruption, Sundowns remain one of the strongest squads in South African football. Cardoso arrived midway through the 2024-25 season with one trophy to his name but has since won both the league title and the CAF Champions League.

Those achievements give him confidence that the club can add further silverware during the 2026-27 campaign, once the rebuilding process begins to produce greater consistency.