He saw what I saw in Benni

Masebe Qina: Coach, let’s dive straight into it. What do you make of Richards Bay FC’s progress this year, coming from the FIFA World Cup break?

Vasili Manousakis:

We have had some very good momentum before the break as we lost only two games up until we lost to (Kaizer) Chiefs and SuperSport (United). In the game before the break, we were unfortunate that we drew, we gave away a very good lead against Chippa (United) to draw 3-3, so it was a little bit disappointing that we couldn’t win. We have had injuries and that gave us the opportunity to look at some of the young players, especially from the DDC (DStv Diski Challenge), who got to train with the first team, which was quite encouraging for them. So, the break gave us the opportunity to look at some options.

MQ: Your team has had a good first season in the elite league. What do you attribute that to?

VM: You know, I took some screenshots at the beginning of the season which said we were the number one candidate to be relegated. We used some of those social media predictions to give us some extra motivation. I would also like to give credit to the chairman (Jomo Biyela) for the players he signed and gave the opportunity to showcase themselves in the PSL and to give them the opportunity to see if they are coachable and to see if they can respond to certain principles. To be fair, all the credit goes, firstly, to the chairman and, secondly, to the players. You know, you can be a great coach and have great tactical ideas and have fantastic training sessions and that, if the players don’t believe in what you are trying to teach them, they will not respond. It doesn’t matter how good you are as a coach, if the players don’t respond, they don’t respond. That’s why I say credit should go to them because they responded when we said let’s try and play in a certain way. We didn’t just throw away the excellent work that the technical team had done before and what the players had done before. We used that and matched it with experience that we have in the team in fantastic footballers like Abel Mabaso, (Ntsikelelo) Nyauza, Nkanyiso Zungu. And people can say whatever about Zungu – he’s had his challenges before, but he has been unbelievable for us. (Luvuyo) Memela, Sbu Mthethwa from Stellenbosch FC, and then we have players who have never played in the PSL before but have done well so far. I mean, Mpho Mathebula is only 21 years old and has been amazing and he is young and dynamic. I never heard of Tshepo Mabua before, he’s a left back, but he is now a makeshift left centre-back because of injuries. Okay, he’s not young because he is 28, but when I saw him and his talent, I was like, “Wow, there’s talent in the NFD (Motsepe Foundation Championship).” I can go on… (Katleho) Maphathe, who is the captain, (Simphiwe) Mcineka, who has a long-term injury, was unbelievable with Nyauza at centreback. I mean, Sanele (Barns) is, for me, probably the find of the season and I’m asking myself how is it possible that this guy has not been playing in the PSL? And there’s Siyanda Msani… and the list goes

Not even the most optimistic of tipsters would have predicted the way the 2022/23 DStv Premiership has gone for Richards Bay FC. For a club that was campaigning in the second tier last season, theirs has been astounding progress, and even neutral seem enamoured of the camaraderie that can be spotted from a distance in their camp. That they are the team closest to M amelodi Sundowns in the league title race, ahead of the likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, is simply stuff of legend. The man behind the team’s rapid rise is none other than Vasili M anousakis, a true player’s coach who has no pomposity about him. Together with the equally humble-natured Pitso Dladla, they have led the KwaZulu-Natal outfit to eight wins and seven draws from the 18 matches played so far. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s M asebe Qina, the former Cape Town City assistant coach shares the secrets behind their amazing run, reveals what people don’t know about Benni M cCarthy and why he is eternally grateful to the club’s chairman, Jomo Biyela. on and on. There’s a good reason we are where we are, it’s an honest group and a group that works their socks off in training. I know that sometimes we don’t play the prettiest football, we mix it up and if we have to go direct, we go direct and if we have to build up, we do that. Before the season started, the chairman asked, “Coach, can you keep us in the PSL?” I said, “I will certainly do that for you, together with the rest of the technical team.” It hasn’t been easy, we took charge of a team that just got promoted from the NFD, and credit to coach Pitso (Dladla) for the great work that’s being done to be where we are at the moment.

MQ: Have you ever found players being not coachable at any of your previous clubs?

VM: Not at all. If you look at the clubs I’ve been at before, Cape Town City were a top footballing side and we had some excellent players. The way Benni (McCarthy) sees the game, I see it the same way. When

I joined Cape Town City, I only had the experience of being an assistant in the youth structures at Ajax Cape Town, so it was a big stepping stone to come straight into the PSL and being Benni’s assistant. We had top players and I had a lot to learn. We had top players like Thami Mkhize, Ayanda Patosi, Teko Modise, Roland Putsche, Robyn Johannes, Peter Leeuwenburgh, Kermit Erasmus, Thabo Nodada… and I can go on. We never had any issues with any of those players because they believed in the process and Benni is the best. A lot of head coaches sometimes like to do everything and let assistant coaches set up the cones, but Benni was not like that. With him, we used to do everything together and the players bought into what we were doing.

MQ: Great stuff! VM:

When we arrived at AmaZulu FC, we found a team that was 14th or 13th on the log and we made them understand that we saw value in them, and they started like a house on fire and we went on to finish second on the log. So, I haven’t had that experience or feeling that the guys have not been responding or do not believe in what we are trying to tell them. If you arrive at any team and you think you are a Pep (Guardiola) or Erik ten Hag, then you will be making a mistake because there’s only one Pep and there’s only one Erik ten Hag and you can’t be them. You can like the things they do, but you can never copy them. I think first and foremost, you have to build a relationship with the guys (players). From there, make them believe that this is the way things are going to work. My man, if you are a coach, you have to have certain principles and you have to believe in them. Yes, sometimes things are not going to work the way you want, but you have to believe. So, from Cape Town City, AmaZulu and now at Richards Bay, I have never had a situation where* players didn’t respond to what we wanted them to do.

MQ: Talking about Benni, what do you think of his progress at Manchester United as strikers’ coach?

VM:

It’s phenomenal! We were all surprised, but there’s a part of me which says, you know what, I am not surprised. I know that a lot of people in South Africa were surprised, but I was not surprised and Moeneeb Josephs was not surprised because we have seen him work every single day in training. I was an assistant to Benni for three-and-a-half seasons and we spent every day together. When we were in Durban, we were both there without our families. Not only were we at the training pitch together, we did everything together. People underestimate the amount of work that Benni does behind the scenes. Out of all the hundreds of coaches that Manchester United could have gone for, Erik ten Hag chose Benni to help him. He saw what I saw in Benni and he saw what Moeneeb saw and he saw what others saw. Perhaps South Africans used to see only Benni on the side of the pitch shouting or being aggressive, but I can tell you now that if he didn’t behave like that he wouldn’t have achieved the things he has achieved. As a youngster and a 17-year-old, if you don’t have a thick skin like that, you cannot make it in a foreign country on your own. I’m happy that he got the opportunity that he’s got and we speak at least once a week and I know his work-rate is

unbelievable.

MQ: You speak very highly of Nkanyiso Zungu. What is it that you like the most about him? VM:

You know, the first thing that captured me is his work-rate. When we did the tests with the guys on the athletics tracks, the first person I wanted to look at was Zungu. I called him and of course I knew who he was because I had seen him at Stellenbosch FC and I had seen a little bit of him at (Orlando) Pirates, and I asked him what happened. He told me that he lost his way and said he went into such a deep dark place. He said he was ready to start all over again and get out of that dark place. He was out of shape, but what was encouraging was his willingness to work hard in order to get fit again. He was overweight. But I was happy to see the transformation in him as the weeks went by, his weight loss, his attitude, and I said to myself, “This guy is special.” I don’t see many number eights in the PSL with a left foot that he’s got, the pass that he’s got and the eye for that special pass. That guy has got all the qualities of a top footballer and I said to myself sometimes that’s what the player needs – to be given a second chance. If they slip, you’ve got to help them to stand up again.

“My man, if you are a coach, you have to have certain principles…”

“There’s only one Pep and there’s only one Erik ten Hag and you can’t be them.”

MQ: Let’s leave it there, coach. Good luck for the remainder of the season.

VM: Thanks, my man.