Sundowns coach not happy with tight PSL fixture scheduling

Ahead of what will be a challenging week for Mamelodi Sundowns, their coach Miguel Cardoso has raised concerns over their tight fixture scheduling in the PSL. The Brazilians will play city rivals SuperSport United in a Betway Premiership clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday night.

The reigning champions come into the Tshwane derby on the back of a resounding 4-0 win over Golden Arrows last Sunday. There will be no rest after the midweek action with Sundowns hosting Orlando Pirates three days later in a blockbuster encounter that is likely to influence the title race.

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“In the best interest of South African football, I don’t think the national team of South Africa will benefit from the schedule and I also don’t think that teams that are competing internationally in CAF competitions will benefit from the schedule that is ahead of us,” Cardoso said.

“It’s an appeal to the PSL that next season the championship can start early. Obviously, (this is) given the time needed after the world championships (World Club Cup) so that the teams can have a minimum rest. What is happening this season can’t happen again because we will suffer for sure. How will we suffer? The number of Injuries will increase a lot.

“We need to manage training sessions or basically don’t train to recover. We need to have a bigger group of players and obviously we tried to reduce our group but we also understood that because of our schedule, we can’t. It will create a problem and it’s not a Sundowns problem, but it’s a South African problem. Teams that play frequently have statistically more injuries.

Masandawana will play 11 league games between February and March as they also prepare for the CAF Champions League knockout phase. They are still in the Nedbank Cup, which means their grueling fixture list will pile up if they progress further in the competitions.

“Before I came here, I spoke to two friends who both have  experiences in Brazil and they were saying their calendar is crazy by playing every three days but then when I go back, I’ll tell them that here it’s even worse – looking at the calendar until the end of March is dramatic,” The Portuguese coach added.

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“You can look too far ahead because you’ll never know what will happen in the next game. I can’t think about the next game because I have to win the one in front of me. After playing Golden Arrows we have SuperSport on Wednesday, the level will be the same as there are no easy matches in the PSL.”