Consistency issues for Benni
Cape Town City coach is not happy with his team after surprising defeat to AmaZulu
BENNI McCarthy slammed his players for their lack of consistency and ambition after Cape Town City were humbled 1-0 by AmaZulu at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Saturday in an Absa Premiership tussle.
Thapelo Nyongo scored a beauty of a free-kick as Usuthu collected back-to-back victories, having defeated Mamelodi Sundowns in their previous encounter.
The Citizens had an opportunity to go third and level with Orlando Pirates on 33 points on the log but fluffed that chance.
They would have been four points off the log leaders, Bidvest Wits, and with the game in hand.
Speaking after the game, McCarthy, questioned the ambition of his players.
“If you look at it closely, it is a missed opportunity because had the results being different, I think we would have been in a different situation (on the log).
“Maybe certain occasions are too big for my players.
“We need to completely be under the radar or in the skies.
“Maybe this score checking, finding out what happened elsewhere is really a bad thing because it just disturbs the momentum.
“Now players think you win and you go third. It is too much (for them), it is something that they won’t prepare for or they can’t deal with it psychologically because it seems to be a theme,” a worried McCarthy explained.
The results favoured the Citizens on Saturday. Orlando Pirates shared the spoils with Kaizer Chiefs in a 1-1 stalemate while Bidvest Wits succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Makhulong Stadium.
“Everytime we get into a situation where we can make a nice step, we don’t take it. It is a like we want to be a modest team. We don’t have that ambition to take the next step. It was a missed opportunity for us,” he added.
The former Bafana Bafana marksman is not too worried though about what is happening at the summit of the table.
“We are running our own race. We are not bothered by what happen at the top or at the bottom. For us we come to work Monday to Friday, work hard and try and improve. We want to see what we worked on during the week in the matches. That’s how we work. We are not bothered about the league table, “McCarthy elaborated.
Asked if his team can finished in the top three, McCarthy replied: “If you look at Chiefs, they have how many players? 40? Pirates got, do I have to say it. We’ve got 23 players if I’m not mistaken plus some of the MultiChoice Diski Challenge boys that I throw in. We don’t have a massive squad. I don’t have the luxury of rotating. I’ve tried to maintain the consistency with the side. It is more of the less, the same team and the same core. It is there, I don’t change too much. I don’t have Pirates, Chiefs and Sundowns’ squad of quality players where I can unleash.”