Cardoso: My question to Ndlovu when he arrived was…

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Cardoso: My question to Ndlovu when he arrived was…

Sep 11, 2026 – 09:01 pm
By Thato Bosoga

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has opened up on how he prefers to use Siyanda Ndlovu, different to what he was used to under former coach Manqoba Mngqithi at Golden Arrows.

Ndlovu has had a decent start at Sundowns since his off-the-season signing, with two goals and an assist in six appearances for The Brazilians.

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The 22-year-old has been playing a different role to what he was used to at Arrows, being used mainly as a right winger and Cardoso has explained how he got to settle the question of where he fits in his team, after playing predominantly as a number ten at Arrows.

“When he arrived and when it’s a player like (Deano) Van Rooyen, we don’t ask him where he wants to play, because the question is not where he wants to play, it’s where he feels he can be better in the positions we have in the pitch, that’s the question. Where do you think you can be better?” Cardoso told reporters at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

“So I don’t put a player in a position he does not feel confident in playing, because the first thing that can make a player express himself technically inside the pitch is that he has joy to play, especially at Sundowns, the way we play must be with a lot of pleasure.

“He said ‘I can operate on the right’ and I said, ‘Hmm, okay’ but you remember coach Manqoba speaking about him as a number ten and we know he has the potential to play inside. Obviously he’s a player that can open spaces but he narrows spaces, he can still dribble but in open space he can even dribble better,” the Portuguese coach said.

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“And the game that he used to play at Arrows is a little bit different from the game he has to play here but we know he is capable of playing inside and outside spaces. I think the analysis of coach Manqoba is absolutely correct. He can play both positions. So we will use him according to what the game asks,” the former Esperance coach added.