Benni slams lazy PSL strikers
Forwards told to follow Percy’s path
Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy has challenged strikers in the PSL to stop being lazy if they want to follow in the footsteps of Percy Tau, who recently joined Brighton Albion & Hove.
There has been a shortage of South African exports to the English Premier League in the last decade with defender Bongani Khumalo the last to move there in 2011 from SuperSport United.
Tau made the switch – to what many consider the best league in the world – after winning the PSL Footballer of the Season in May.
McCarthy has urged local footballers to rise all the way to the top.
“The best that we had, Percy, has left now but we shouldn’t rely on one player carrying the nation’s hopes,” McCarthy said.
“The league is crying for someone to come score 15 goals per season and become the ‘it’ thing in this league. We need more players like Tau abroad and playing against the best,” he said.
The 40-year-old was a top striker for Blackburn Rovers in England in his heyday where he scored 37 goals between 2006 and 2010.
At Sundowns’ base in Chloorkop, the 24 year-old Tau was best known by the staff of the club for the long hours he spent training alone after everyone has left.
McCarthy said footballers need to do more to hone their craft to get recognised by clubs in the top divisions in the world. “Strikers don’t want to stay 30 minutes after training. If I force them to do that then they will hate me.
“The player needs to be the one to push himself to want to be better.
“They must work on their game over and over until it gets boring. When it gets boring that’s when it gets stuck in your head forever. Scoring goals must start to get boring.”