Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says he has told the club hierarchy that except for the big games, all their home games should be played at Lucas Moripe instead of Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
“I said to the people from the club, ‘From now on, except for the big games’ I prefer to play our home games at Lucas Moripe [Stadium] instead of Loftus for now,” Cardoso said after their 4-1 victory over their Betway Premiership chasers Orlando Pirates last week Saturday.
Pitch quality disappointing
At first glance, the pitch was evidently not up to scratch and disappointing to witness for many spectators. Especially for a game of that magnitude.
Having previously criticised some of the poor turfs that Sundowns have played on since taking over, Cardoso said he would not be naïve about his judgment and would be consistent on the standard of pitches.
“Immediately when I entered the pitch before the game I said and felt that the pitch was not in a good condition. And that was even before I knew what would happen on the pitch,” he said.
“For me, the better the quality of the pitch is, the better football you can get out of it. And for our team, for sure, we suffer from pitches like this, we suffer!
Ground quality affects performance
“So, I’m not naïve or to say when we go play away, we have bad pitches. It’s not bad pitches, not everywhere every time, but in some places, yes. But mostly I spoke on the pitch in Polokwane [Old Peter Mokaba Stadium] where we played, that pitch is very tough.”
According to Cardoso, he made follow-ups with the groundsman building up to the game. He said that he would continue to fight to have South African pitches to be in better conditions.
“I can confess that during the week, every day, I received reports on the work that has been done on the pitch. Our team of people, our greenkeepers, were at the venue every day working on this pitch. Otherwise, it would be even worse.
Actively fighting to make pitches better
“But there are things we don’t control. We don’t control the events that happen here; we don’t control the games that happen here. The stadium is not ours, so it’s not our responsibility because the pitch is like this.
“We fight to have it better, we pay to have it better, so we work on the pitch to have it better. And at the end of the game, I don’t know if you saw. I was on the pitch, speaking with the greenkeeper. And he was already explaining to me what kind of work he was starting tomorrow [Sunday].
“He’s going to remove all the dry turf and work on it. And he’s going to plant 60 KG of new seeds So we are working on the pitch, believe me.
Slippery ground
Cardoso added: “At half-time, he came to us and asked, ‘Should I water the pitch?’ and I said no. Because it’s very slippery, so with more water, it would’ve been worse.
“So, we work as much as possible for the quality of the pitch. I defend as much as possible the quality of the pitch. Because we want to play good football; we want to defend a spectacle.”
Their Nedbank Cup last 16 match against Mpheni Home Defenders on Sunday has since been moved. It was moved from Loftus to Lucas Moripe by the Premier Soccer League.
