David: What needs to improve
F rom the first glance, it’s easy to tell that Chris David is something special. His beautiful free-kick that sank the hearts of Mamelodi Sundowns fans in a league match last month is evidence of that. So special that by age 19, he had attracted the atten
Celine Abrahams: Chris, it’s been just over a month since your arrival at Cape Town City. How’s it been?
Chris David: Ah, I’m enjoying it. It’s a nice city to be in and the football here is better than I expected, so I am very happy that I am here and that I took the opportunity. I think a lot of people have the wrong thoughts about Africa and, to be honest, I had the same thoughts. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be like this and to be this beautiful, with beautiful people. When it comes to the club, I don’t think I have ever had an owner that was so chilled like the one I have now (John Comitis). I really like the way he works with everyone in the club and I have enjoyed every minute of being in the team.
CA: You mention that people have the wrong thoughts about Africa…
CD: Yes, if you look at the lifestyle aspect, it’s where most people think there are a lot of poor people here, a lot of criminality. Ja, I think those are the two biggest things that people always think about when they hear about South Africa or Africa, and it’s far from that. There are some things like criminality and poverty in every part of the whole world and there will be places that will have it in some areas. I want to tell everyone who has those thoughts to come here for just a week and they will see that it’s no different. Its way more than what we tend to think and it is really a beautiful country.
CA: You also say the chairman is a different kind of boss. What’s impressed you most about him?
CD: He is an amazing person with a good personality and he is involved and so passionate about his club and everyone in the team. He is so close to us and you don’t see that happening in a lot of clubs, even in Europe. You might see owners once in a couple of months because they are either travelling or are too busy. With him it is different and he is doing an amazing job. The club has been able to achieve so much in such a little time that it has been in the league and I think a lot has come from his input, in addition to the coaches, the players, as well as the backroom staff, who are all doing an incredible job. I think he is a good example for the other club owners. I don’t mean to say they are doing something wrong, but the way I see it, he is a lot different. I mean, you won’t see another owner have a close connection with the players where he even got in the water (Camps Bay Beach) with us for a teambuilding exercise to relax the body and get the mindset right. We appreciated it because he could have easily stayed on the side and watched us get into the cold water, but no, he came in because he wants that unity in the team. He actually led us into the water and that’s who he is – he leads us in everything we do as a team.
CA: How different is the Absa Premiership from where you’ve been in Europe?
CD: When it comes to the facilities, it’s not like in Europe, of course. For example, the pitches are not the same in every stadium and sometimes it is very hard to play nice football because of a bad pitch. I think, for the country to get the football to the highest level, it has to start with these kinds of things where the facilities have to be good so that the stadiums can be more packed. People want to come and watch nice football, but you can’t play nice football on
a bad pitch. These kinds of small things should be improved because it will help the players and the way they can play and it’s better to watch too. In that way, you attract more people to come into the stadiums, I think. And when it comes to the players, where I come from there is no time to relax. There, you have to work very hard every day to make sure that you stand a chance to get a place in the team. If you don’t perform, you can easily get changed and there is enough money there to buy another player to take your place. So you can’t mess around! Sometimes a bit of laziness comes into some players and, to be honest, in our team I haven’t seen that because I think we are lucky to have players who played in Europe and our coach ( Benni McCarthy) has been there. But I can see sometimes in games with some opponents, you know, where the players are not marking, are not looking in the best shape or are not giving their best and that’s where I think there is that difference when it comes to the mindset of the players here and in Europe. CA: It certainly hasn’t taken you long to notice the problem of empty stadiums. It must be different from what you’re used to. CD: Yeah, it is different and I think it was only the games where I played against (Mamelodi) Sundowns and (Kaizer) Chiefs away where the stadiums were really full. The other games we had just a couple of thousands there and that’s the big difference with Europe, where every game the stadium is packed. I don’t know if it is about the money or the travelling here that has made it to be this way, but like I said, the football also needs to improve and maybe, that way, it will start to attract people to the stadiums again. The fields need to be right and the refereeing needs to be at a good standard for beautiful football to be played. All of these things need to be improved if the country wants to find the football on the same level as the rest of the world.
CA: Interesting. You had no previous relationship with Benni, only knew him from his playing days. How is life under his watchful eye?
CD: Well, he is doing a great job, looking at what he has achieved, and credit to him for that. He welcomed me straight away when I joined and I know that if there is something, I can always go to him and talk. He is a big name here in South Africa and he has achieved so much in his career, yet he is so easy to approach and helpful. It has been an honour for me to be with him and getting to learn from him every day. CA: He is known to crack the whip when the need arises. When was the first time you actually saw that side of him? CD: It was actually my first game against (Bidvest) Wits when we went into half-time 2-0 down, and he went… well, not angry… but I think to try and motivate us, he raised his voice a bit. But it helped us because we turned the game into a 3-2 win. It’s not like he is angry, it’s because he knows what we can do, so he expects to see that and, when it doesn’t happen, then he is going to tell us. He is passionate about the game and he will get emotional, but we know that because we are the same when we want good results. He tries to motivate us and wants us to realise that we need to be grateful for the jobs that we have. He is straightforward and that is what we need sometimes. CA: Cape Town City have managed to win only four out of the 12 away league games so far this season. This must be a cause for concern taking into consideration that of your lastl five matches, three are go ing to be away… CD:C There is always a difference whe en you play home and away, espec cially considering what I mentioned earlier with the pitches. Not every pitch in this country is the same as our home ground (Cape Town Stadium), where we get to play our style of football, which is a passing game and is what makes us so dangerous. For now, we want to win every game and it doesn’t matter whether we are playing home or away. We are always trying to win and we have been unfortunate not to do that in our away games. We have a good opportunity to change that now and hopefully things do work in our favour.
CA: What did you make of the scenes that led to your match against Bloemfontein Celtic being called off?
CD: Please talk to Vusi (Cape Town City Media Officer) about that game. (See Ed’s note)
CA: We wish you all the best in this new chapter of your career, Chris.
CD: Thank you so much. ❐
ED’S NOTE: Soccer Laduma sought comment from Cape Town City regarding their abandoned game against Bloemfontein Celtic, and the club sent us this official statement: “The matter is with the prosecutor and we await the verdict, so it will be very difficult at the moment to say anything. As a club we have no further comments regarding the game against Bloemfontein Celtic.”
“You can’t play nice football on a bad pitch.”