Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso, with his long ball approach, is looking to succeed where the side's former tacticians Pitso Mosimane, Manqoba Mngqithi and Rulani Mokwena could not find joy.
With Sundowns 1-0 down against Magesi FC on Wednesday, Cardoso made inspired substitutions, as Arthur Sales and Tashreeq Matthews came on at half-time to rescue a 2-1 win.
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The home side, without legs in the second stanza, after a CAF Champions League encounter 72 hours prior, played crosses and long balls towards in the latter phase towards Sales, who assisted Lucas Ribeiro's equaliser and was a constant threat in the box with his height.
Sundowns are known for being patient on the ball, playing possession football, but Cardoso adding a new dimension of going long when teams sit deep is not something new, after Mosimane had the same idea when he signed Mauricio Affonso in 2019.
Mngqithi and Mokwena had Pavol Safranko at their disposal as co-coaches two years later.
Former winger Lebohang Mokoena has offered Sales advice after his impact off the bench on Wednesday.
"You know, this is just my piece of advice. I think when he comes short, he's not really a player that can give you something. But look when he was in the box, it gives options to the fullbacks to bring crosses to him because he's got height," Mokoena said on SoccerBeat YouTube Channel.
"Look at how he set up that goal, that just shows you he's a clever striker, he just needs to be more in and around the box. He must not come short.
"Look at the finish from Ribeiro, it just shows the dimension that Sundowns changed in the second half. Maybe that was the plan: get it out wide to the fullback and let the fullback put it in the box. They could have scored two or three goals (like that), they disallowed Peter (Shalulile)'s goal. Big up to Sales," added 'Cheeseboy'.
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Affonso and Safranko showed potential to give the Tshwane giants a different dimension but with limited success.
The Portuguese coach, more adept at direct play having coached in Europe for the better part of his career, could have better chances of making the side unpredictable with the height and technical ability of Sales.