CAPE Town City FC coach Benni McCarthy has lashed out at his players after they suffered their heaviest Absa Premiership defeat yet this season.
Maritzburg United came from behind on Tuesday to beat the Citizens 4-2 in their home-away-from-home match at KwaMashu’s Princess Magogo Stadium.
McCarthy criticised his players after the game, saying they lacked desire and killer instinct for allowing the Team of Choice to pull the wool over their eyes.
Said McCarthy: “I think some of my players should take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves whether they are in the right profession. We control all our matches but we lack that killer instinct.
“Playing good football is not enough if you don’t take your chances. Lately we seem to be focusing too much on playing good football and too little on utilising on those chances we create. The problem I’m facing at the moment is that we are not scoring enough goals.
“In the first half there was only one team on the field and that was us. We created chances and only got one goal. At half-time I told my players to go out there and make sure they didn’t allow the opposition to come back into the game.
“Do you know what they did? They did the exact opposite. They allowed Maritzburg to cruise back into the match and we lost.”
McCarthy was coy on singling out players, merely saying that some individuals were not pouring their all into fighting for the City badge.
“The desire is not there to fight for the team for some of my players, that is the biggest problem I have. After Maritzburg scored that equaliser players just lost the desire to continue, they just gave up.
“These players should take responsibility and should ask themselves whether they think they were good enough in this match,” said the disgruntled coach.
The former Bafana Bafana international said playing the match in Durban was not a valid excuse – “because it is not”. But he admits that travelling is always a factor.
City used Princess Magogo Stadium due to the unavailability of stadiums in Cape Town.
Going to Durban seems will have suited the Team of Choice, who had a travel time of just 45 minutes by bus from Pietermaritzburg to KwaMashu.
