Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says there are no issues Katlego Ntsabeleng but competition is rife in the midfield this season.
‘Tsiki’, 27, joined Sundowns from Major League Soccer outfit FC Dallas on loan as they looked to add more creativity to their midfield options but thus far, has found opportunities limited under Cardoso.
In what’s his first stint in the Premier Soccer League, having previously been on the books of Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs development squads before moving to the United States via a stint at the University of Johannesburg, in his short time on the pitch, he’s shown glimpses of his quality.
And after being substituted during the 2-1 win over Gomora in the Nedbank Cup last-32 clash at Loftus Versfeld, questions were raised to Cardoso over what he needs to do to get more regular minutes in the line-up, with only two starts all season.
“Nothing wrong with Tsiki, there’s no problems, he works normally – he had a very nice pre-season for the second half… when he arrived he had some difficulties to understand a little bit what we wanted from him,” Cardoso said.
“But the problem is not Tsiki, it’s the ones who play in the positions that Tsiki plays – and there are many players who play there. When you have a 38 player squad, there will always be three, four or five who don’t play so much.
“As much as they work, this is not about Tsiki only but others, there will always be someone without so much game time and if we point fingers, it’s normal, no issues, no issues with him or anyone else – he’s a very good boy, a very professional player.
“I embraced him so much today at half-time and obliged him to raise his head and come to the bench as a man, as a high quality player because he is a high quality player, no doubt.”
Ntsabeleng scored two goals with seven assists in 92 appearances for Dallas, primarily used as a rotational option during his time in the professional ranks in the USA.
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