‘Every player has their own characteristics. Neither Nuno and Miguel Reisinho have the characteristics that Lucas had,’ Cardoso said.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso insists the club’s new Portuguese arrivals are not at Chloorkop to replace Lucas Ribeiro. Nuno Santos has been unveiled as a marquee signing from Portuguese top-flight outfit Vitória de Guimarães, while Miguel Reisinho is expected to complete his move as a free agent following a spell with Boavista FC.
Cardoso – ‘That’s not what we are looking for’
Santos has already been handed his debut, featuring in the 1-0 shock defeat to Golden Arrows on Wednesday afternoon. Although Cardoso admitted that Ribeiro’s presence might have altered the outcome, he stressed that neither Santos nor Reisinho were recruited as direct replacements for last season’s PSL Footballer of the Season.
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“No player will replace Lucas because that’s not what we are looking for but we want to reinforce the team and every player has their own characteristics. Neither Nuno and Miguel Reisinho have the characteristics that Lucas had,” Cardoso said.
“Mamelodi Sundowns will develop to be a different team collectively than it was in the past. Lucas was a player that could solve problems alone and these kinds of games like today, he would have helped a lot.
“That is because when we were blocked, he would find a way but Lucas is for us a wonderful memory and a good friend but it’s in the past. We don’t relate with the past, we just need to understand how capable we are to welcome everybody and to develop the team in that sense.”
The Brazilians will have little time to dwell on their midweek setback as they prepare to host Richards Bay at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday evening. Cardoso remains adamant that his charges will bounce back to winning following the stuttering display against Arrows.
“We’re strong, resilient and capable of moving forward. We will do that and it’s good that we already gave a game on Saturday,” he concluded.
‘You get punished when you don’t score’
“In football we evaluate differently, everybody will say that Mamelodi Sundowns played badly. They said in the last game that Sundowns played well because we won and scored three goals but I don’t see things in the exact way. We’re unsatisfied because we think that we had more than enough capacity to get a result here.
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“That doesn’t take anything away from Golden Arrows but it has to do with the fact that we believe that we can do more. The game brought different moments and we couldn’t not capitalise and score. In the end, you get punished when you don’t score.”