Benni fired up for the new season

CAPE TOWN City open their 2018/19 PSL season with a home fixture against SuperSport United at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 6pm) and head coach Benni McCarthy was honest and forthright in looking back on last season.

At the same time, having heeded the lessons of the past, he was super-confident the Cape club would go even better this time.

Last season was McCarthy’s first as a head coach when he steered City to fifth position. Now, having completed his Uefa pro licence, the 40-year-old former Bafana Bafana striker is determined and highly motivated to improve, not just himself as a coach but to elevate his team as well.

“I think last season I tried too hard to make the players feel comfortable,” said McCarthy.

“I probably babied the players too much. That will change – I will be more direct this season because it’s not about being liked or not, it’s about getting the job done. I think the players want to be told how it is straight, and that is what I will do. It’s going to be a brutal season. In any case, the team knows what we want as a club and they have to be professional about it.

“But I’m excited for this season, probably much more than last season because I’m not a rookie anymore. The technical team around me brings a sense of calmness and the players have upped their game. I’m optimistic and I think we are real contenders this season.

“I have a balanced squad with two or three players for every position. Now it’s about getting the monkey off our backs and making sure we get the season off to a winning start on Saturday.

“We don’t want to come to training every day, work hard, and have the mentality that we don’t want to win things, because if that is the way you think, then you may as well stay at home. We we want to be in contention for everything.

“You will see the same from City this season: compact football with players confident on the ball.

“We have added Dutch goalkeeper Peter (Leeuwenburgh) who has brought a calmness to the team. Together with Peter, we have Sage (Stephens), and both keepers allow us to play out from the back.

“Up front we have Matthew Rusike who is looking like a new player, and the man we call ‘Shaka Zulu’, Siphelele Mthembu. As a striker, he adds a new dimension to our game in that he can hold the ball up and bring teammates into play.

“Mostly, though, we will look to take it game by game – every day is a new day, every game is a new