After guiding AmaZulu to an unlikely runners-up finish, head coach Benni McCarthy is finding the going tougher this season, writes Mogamad Allie.
It says a lot about Benni McCarthy’s ability as a coach that he managed to catapult AmaZulu, a side normally associated with relegation, into second place behind Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2020-21 Premiership campaign. Usuthu, who have been relegated four times in the PSL era, previously had a best finish of seventh – achieved in 2011-12 under Swedish coach Roger Palmgren.
Having an ambitious chairman like businessman Sandile Zungu at the helm has also helped a great deal. Zungu, who bought AmaZulu from Dr Patrick Sokhela at the start of the season, has sworn to do whatever it takes to harness the massive untapped support base of the 89-year-old club in KwaZulu-Natal.
But McCarthy has made a rod for his own back with his instant success. By qualifying for this season’s Caf Champions League, it meant his squad would be stretched by travel commitments across the continent and an additional workload.
And after causing a massive upset by eliminating five-time champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo in the second round, AmaZulu will be stretched even further by their campaign in the group stages of the Champions League. That phase runs between mid-February and the beginning of April. If they go all the way to the final, they will be involved until the end of May.
‘With the congestion of the fixtures that will be coming, the recovery process will be difficult and it’s tough for players to be at the speed and level of every game. With the intensity that we want to play with, it will take a lot out of the players,’ McCarthy said.
McCarthy is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead and the need to increase his squad depth during the January transfer window. ‘If you give me the money that Sundowns have to buy players, I’ll show you how quick I can wrap up the league but I don’t have that luxury. If I had that, I would be the Thomas Tuchel of South Africa,’ he said.
The 44-year-old former Ajax, Porto and Blackburn Rovers striker has also not been happy with his players’ performances thus far and hasn’t held back in telling them off publically.
‘As much as you try to rotate and put this player on because he trains well, come matchday you get a performance that disappoints you. So we try to do the best we can by playing the in-form players but there’s absolutely nothing you can do because we don’t have control over players’ performance,’ he said.
‘When players are constantly not performing to the levels they should, you as a coach can only take that player out. If the player you then replace him with also gives you a below-average performance what can you do?’
The next few months will provide Benni McCarthy with the sternest challenge of his fledgling coaching career but don’t be surprised if AmaZulu takes a few more big scalps in the Champions League before all is said and done.
