After short tenures enjoyed by Rulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi as head coaches at Mamelodi, club Sporting Director Flemming Berg has hinted on the lessons learned to hire Miguel Cardoso.
Although Mokwena spent a number of years at Sundowns, firstly as assistant coach and then co-coach, his stint as head coach was short-lived, only completing one full season before being relieved of his duties.
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The exit of Mokwena from Chloorkop was particularly alarming, with allegations emerging in local media that he clashed with Berg due to the latter's insistence to bring the players he recommended to the club.
In hindsight, Berg has revealed that in bringing on board Cardoso, the club used an agency, which is a leader in sport, that had no professional players under their stable, to avoid conflict of interest.
"The minute you bring in a coach from a company (agency) that also has a lot of players, there will come a lot of pressure to bring those players into the club as well and maybe those players don't fit us," Berg told UK publication The Athletic.
"Portuguese coaches are focused on the defensive part of the game, but we needed that. We could see a team (Esperance, formerly coached by Cardoso) that was well structured in a clear 4-3-3. Everyone knew exactly what they needed to do," Berg said about what led them to hire their current coach.
Berg appears to have convinced the Sundowns board to take a different approach on the coach that can not only make them play beautiful football but most importantly make them hard to beat and result-oriented.
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Cardoso became the first Brazilians coach to reach the CAF Champions League final this past season, since their first crown in 2016.
