Durban — Speaking ahead of his team’s CAF Champions League game against ES Setif in Durban on Friday night, AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy bemoaned the congestion of fixtures his side faces as they compete in the domestic league and Champions League.
McCarthy feels that the Premier Soccer League (PSL) should better plan league fixtures to allow teams to prepare for continental competition.
“It’s been difficult to prepare under the circumstances. We faced a marathon in December and then had to play (in the Champions League) last Friday before playing in the league on Tuesday. We face another complicated game against Setif. Our opponents had a match postponed so that they could focus on this game. We are accumulating games. It disturbs our preparation but we just have to deal with it,” McCarthy told Journalists at a press conference in Durban on Thursday.
AmaZulu have had a modest start to their debut season in the Champions League. They lost their opening game against continental giants Raja Casablanca before recording a home win over Horoya. McCarthy believes that Setif’s style of play is a combination of Raja and Horoya.
“There is a bit of each team in them. They have speed which is exactly what we faced against Horoya. They have discipline and comfort behind the ball which is what we encountered against Raja. We won’t have butterflies as we experienced against Raja. The players will have to get the war kit out of the cupboard. Tomorrow will be a war as Southern Africa faces off against Northern Africa. We just have to hope that we have the same mindset that we had against Horoya,” added the 44-year-old.
McCarthy praised Setif for their resilience in spite of their off the field issues.
“In spite of their financial problems, they still qualified for the Champions League. That says something about their mentality and character. We are not dealing with a team that lets problems off the field get to them. We just have to find ways to be ourselves and perform to the best of our ability,” said McCarthy.
AmaZulu have been guilty of missing several goal scoring opportunities in their last two games against Horoya and TS Galaxy. McCarthy admitted that this is a problem but says that it is a problem affecting South African football as a whole. He feels that it may be a generational issue which coaching cannot solve.
“We were wasteful but so is every other team in the league. It’s down to the players. Coaches and technical teams can’t do anything about the fact that players don’t have the desire to score 15-20 goals a season. That generation of players may be gone. Until these players have that desire to beat the previous generation, we will not see a player scoring that many goals. There, I can’t assist anyone. If you practice more, you become much better,” said McCarthy.
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