Mamelodi Sundowns teenager Thato Sibiya in action against RB Leipzig at the Lucas Moripe Stadium last Friday evening.
Image: BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes it will always be a balancing act between fielding experienced players and promoting youngsters from the academy at a competitive club such as the CAF Champions League winners.
Sundowns have often been accused of “buying their success” with a host of stars being acquired — both locally and abroad — to bolster the ranks at Chloorkop each season, rather than the club promoting from within.
However, Cardoso believes last season — when Sundowns surrendered their Betway Premiership crown for the first time in nine seasons — showed that youngsters need to be integrated alongside the regulars, rather than thrown in collectively at the deep end. This collective promotion was unfortunately necessary last season when the club was thin on resources after returning from the FIFA Club World Cup.
“It's very good that we can speak about that because, for example, I think that one of the reasons that didn't allow us to start the season the way we could have started was exactly because of the fact that we had to immediately put too many youngsters to play in the moment that we needed, because we had a lack of numbers in that moment,” Cardoso said on Sundowns’ The Pitchside Podcast.
“And we exposed them probably to a level that they were not able to sustain, especially the level that the team needed in terms of results. Promoting young players is a challenge for a coach—a beautiful one.
“Look, this [CAF Champions League] medal is very important, but bringing a young player to a first-team level is a medal as valuable as this one, and I know that. But also, the way you do it can throw him in the garbage, and you cannot do that.”
Cardoso highlighted the emergence of 19-year-old Sundowns Academy graduate Thato Sibiya. The left-back delivered a polished Man of the Match performance on his senior Sundowns debut against Orbit College, which provided Cardoso with the belief that the talented teenager was ready to take the next step up to the CAF Champions League to face Sudanese giants Al Hilal.
It, however, proved to be a baptism of fire, with Sundowns drawing 2-2 at home before going down 2-1 in Kigali.
“We believe a lot in Thato Sibiya. We know that he's a future fantastic left-back, but I maybe believed in him too much by exposing him, for example, in the Al Hilal match away,” Cardoso said.
“He had come from two fantastic performances in the championship, even being Man of the Match in one of them. And I was so confident that I said, 'No, he can start that match.'
“But indeed, we felt as soon as the match started, 'Oops.'
“But we keep on believing in him. This boy will have many opportunities, and maybe he will succeed more because we gave him that opportunity. But in that moment, we paid also because of him — not only because of him. And so the moment, the opportunity, and the way we do it is so decisive on that.
“I think that it is very important that we understand that producing young players is also making assets for the club. It is making money for the club because you don't need to buy when you have. It's a reason for everybody to work in this club.”
Cardoso believes the transition of 20-year-old Kutlwano Lethlaku into the Sundowns’ first team from the Diski Challenge side is a prime example of young player development.
The right-winger played 922 minutes overall last season, featuring in 10 Betway Premiership matches and five CAF Champions League encounters, including starting in both legs of the final against AS Rabat.
It was a massive vote of confidence from the Portuguese tactician to entrust Lethlaku in two highly pressurised matches ahead of experienced stalwarts such as Thapelo Morena and Monnapule Saleng.
“There was a lot of work on Kutlwano Lethlaku before we had our hands on him,” Cardoso said.
“So, we need to praise everybody that comes along in all that process until the moment that, for example, coach Tiro (Tiro-John Van Rooyen) stepped in this season. He did a fantastic job with him in order to keep on motivating, keep on giving opportunities in the Diski, and keep on working with him so that we could bring him back in the right moment.
“And yeah, people need to know, as much as they love our academy, we also love our academy. You are the first ones to love the academy. Always believe there's a moment to do things. And that moment must be the right one because the demand to win is so big that you cannot risk it. So, we need to balance it in the right way.”