With Mamelodi Sundowns yet to return from their FIFA Club World Cup break, former club midfielder Brent Carelse has given his opinion on whether head coach Miguel Cardoso could have done better at the tournament.
Even though Sundowns appeared to have made a good showing at the Club World Cup, there are still some critics, who feel a different coach could have made it past the group stages.
There has been a sour feeling from some quarters, who were still hurting that former coach Rulani Mokwena was unfairly dismissed and that he deserved to lead the Brazilians at the Club World Cup.
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Cardoso's long-term suitability at Masandawana started to be questioned somewhat, especially after a loss to unfancied Pyramids in the CAF Champions League final over two legs.
Carelse has admitted that there were a few decisions that he also felt were questionable.
"Look, there were certain decisions he (Cardoso) made, obviously it's his decisions to make, who starts and who he brings on. We're on the outside, we can debate and have opinions as much as we can, but we don't spend everyday with the players," Carelse told Soccer Laduma.
"So we don't know exactly what's going on you know but yes there were one or two decisions where you questioned it, why is this one coming on, why is this one coming off, things like that.
"But I think overall, at the end of the day the players who are chosen to start and the ones on the bench they all have a job to do and I think as we know Sundowns have a big squad, with a lot of quality," Carelse said.
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"So I don't see such a huge problem with that. I think if it was any other coach, yes his decisions would be different but we don't know what the outcome would have been.
"I'm just proud of what they achieved when called upon, whoever was given an opportunity did his best and they made us proud," the former Cape Town Spurs midfielder added.
Cardoso could face more pressure in the upcoming season, with Sundowns limited to only two weeks of pre-season before re-opening in the MTN8 quarter-finals against Richards Bay on 3 August.
