Former Manchester United strikers’ coach and South Africa’s best football export, Benni McCarthy, is of the opinion that even though Orlando Pirates are doing exceptionally well, it’s going to be very difficult for them to wrestle the PSL league title away from Mamelodi
Sundowns.
Pirates and Sundowns are involved in a cat-and-mouse chase at the top of Betway Premiership, and the Buccaneers have launched themselves as favourites with incredible depth in their squad and an impressive football that has produced the results. Both teams are locked on 41 points, but Bucs are on top of the log table via a better goal difference. Sundowns has dominated the local scene, winning the league for eight consecutive
seasons.
McCarthy, who won the Uefa Champions League with FC Porto, spoke to Sunday World on the background of the launch of his book in Johannesburg this past week. The much-sought after book is about his upbringing in the gangster-infested and drug-ravaged Hanover Park in the notorious Cape Flats. The book also touches on his journey to Europe, his rise to stardom and his conflict with the South African Football Association officials.
“For Sundowns to have been so dominant is amazing. Their recruiting policy has been phenomenal, and their relentlessness in the way they have pursued being champions for so long is applaudable.
“You envy that because when you win the league or CAF, a lot of players lose focus because they think they are big and that they have arrived – that is common in South Africa. You win one trophy, and you are a superstar, but Sundowns players do it year after year, and the mentality they have is commendable.
“So, winning the league will be difficult for Pirates because Sundowns know how to win the league; those players know how it is to be champions – you can see they thrive on it, and they do not want to give it up. It’s not going to be easy for Pirates to surpass that because they (Sundowns) know what it takes and what needs to be done to get over the line because they have been doing it for the last eight years straight,” he added.
However, the 48-year-old Kenya national team coach praised Pirates’ recruitment scheme and said that they have assembled a squad that is more capable of changing the SA diski landscape.
“The recruitment has been better, and Pirates look like they can push, but it is sad that it is now 14 years since they dominated and won the league. Pirates have their work cut out for them, but I hope it will be good advertisement for South African football if Pirates can change things up and that somebody else can win the league so that the dominance is not a one-sided affair.
“This will result in teams like Kaizer Chiefs being inspired to improve their recruitment, and other teams will follow soon. I am wishing Pirates all the best in their pursuit of winning the league title and I hope they can do it for South African football,” he added.
McCarthy explained further that credit must go to Sundowns for the establishment that they have set up and the discipline they have instilled in their
players.
“Patrice Motsepe has put in the money, and it can be easy for the players to get sidetracked. But the way they have gone on about things, they brought the right coaches, and they got the right stability to win eight back-to-back league trophies.
“This reminds me of the Scottish Premier League, where Glasgow Celtic has been very dominant. The PSL is more competitive than the Scottish league. In the PSL you have Pirates, Chiefs, Sekhukhune United, AmaZulu and Golden Arrows, who are very strong.”
