PSL

Patosi: At The Beginning I Was Not A Fan Of Benni…

2 Jul 28, 2020 - 01:57 pm

By Soccer Laduma

Ayanda Patosi opened up about his relationship with Benni McCarthy during their time together at Cape Town City, admitting that at first, he struggled to work under the head coach.

Patosi joined Cape Town City in 2017 after a lengthy stay in Belgium, though his first stint in the Premier Soccer League did not come without any personal challenges.

The 27-year-old playmaker came under fire for ill-disciplined behaviour back in 2018 and as a result, was left out of Head Coach McCarthy’s matchday squads.

However, looking back, Patosi has taken full responsibility for his poor decisions in the past, revealing that it took him a while to realise that McCarthy was just eager to get the best out of the Bafana Bafana international.

“At the beginning, I was not a fan of him, I didn’t work well with him. I knew Benni from Belgium, he was an assistant coach at one team there when I was playing that side. So we came together at Cape Town City, I thought everything would be fine and on my side, I thought the PSL would be easy, so I didn’t do as much and didn’t work as much to give him (McCarthy) the confidence that he has for a player that he can believe and trust in and that is going to win games for (the team),” Patosi told the SA Football Journalists Association on Monday.

“So I did my own things on the side because I was coming from Belgium after seven years to Cape Town and I was not focused on football, I started to be with friends and I didn’t realise that Benni was doing these things to help me become a better player.

“At some point I realised and I sat back and spoke to him and Mr John and I realised that he wants the best out of me at the end and I realised that I was not in Cape Town for holidays, I am in Cape Town to work. Playing for Cape Town City does not mean I am there for holidays, I can not just do what I want and expect to perform well (on the field).

“I went to Eastern Cape and I came back and we talked about it and I started doing my job, worked hard. At the end, we were fine and we worked together very well. At Cape Town City, we played two finals, for a new coach in his first season to go into the final, lose it and then take the cup in the second season, that is a great achievement for him and he is a coach who does not care if you are a star or a big player, he treats everyone the same.

“It doesn’t matter if you are Ayanda Patosi or Teko Modise, if a young player comes and starts working hard, Benni does not care, he will use that player and put you on the bench. Everyone was working hard, we got results at the end,” he added.