Cardoso addresses concerns of dressing room disharmony at Sundowns – ‘A lot of manipulation’

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has firmly dismissed any suggestions that he lost the support of his squad during a challenging period this season.

Following a string of inconsistent performances that saw Sundowns knocked out of both the Carling Knockout Cup and the Nedbank Cup, and teetering on the edge of a CAF Champions League exit, pressure mounted on the Portuguese coach.

Some sections of the fanbase began to voice their discontent, and rumours circulated that he was losing his grip on the dressing room and was unable to inspire a turnaround.

However, Cardoso has now come forward to deny these claims. With key players like Jayden Adams and Marcelo Allende returning to form after being benched, and other stars hitting their stride, optimism has returned to the club. Sundowns are now seen as strong contenders for both the domestic league title and the CAF Champions League.

Cardoso never felt shaken by poor form

“I have to confess to you, I never felt there was any kind of loss in terms of managing the locker room,” Cardoso stated as per iDiski Times. “Obviously, when you don’t win here and there, the emotions are not the same as when we are all together and in good spirits, but we have memories.”

The coach pointed to the narrow margins of their cup defeats as evidence of their underlying strength. “We know what we have done in the past. We lost two cups on penalties, which unfortunately didn’t give us trophies. I repeat, in one of them, there was not even one entry into our box or a shot at our goal.”

“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻…” 🗣️

Miguel Cardoso has addressed the chaos that threatened Mamelodi Sundowns’ season.

From fans hurling objects at him and Flemming Berg to the rhythmic chanting of ‘Pitso, Pitso,’ the pressure was at an all-time… pic.twitter.com/VzSybYEabQ

— FARPost_ZA (@FARPostZA) March 6, 2026

“But that’s football,” he added. “Of course, it is difficult to bounce back the next day when you lose trophies like that, but the players know very well the direction they want to go, and the people at the club help us, keeping us united.”

Sundowns coach slams outside ‘manipulation’

Cardoso also alluded to “external factors” and “manipulation” that he believes were intended to create disharmony within the team. He credits the club’s resilience for overcoming these challenges, a strength reflected in their recent run of six consecutive league wins, which has placed them in a tight title race with Orlando Pirates.

“The doors of Chloorkop are very strong. What happens outside is outside; what happens inside is another story,” he explained. “I think there was a lot of manipulation regarding many things… you always saw me being very calm.”

He continued, “We had to fight back, fight for everything, and try to go forward together. We focused on keeping belief, giving energy to our fans, and putting away the bad interferences. People try to take advantage of those moments… but we showed we’re courageous, with a backbone, and we handled it.”

Looking ahead, Cardoso insists the team’s focus is solely on the immediate future. “In football, you just need to think about tomorrow. I just know we have to play Orbit on Tuesday, and that’s the challenge we have. Nobody in the locker room is thinking about more than the match against Orbit, believe me.”