Joseph Molangoane, Kaizer Chiefs & Lyle Lakay, Cape Town CityBackpagepix

Lyle Lakay: Why I want to play for Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy

Despite a bright start to their 2017/18 Premier Soccer League campaign under a new coach in Benni McCarthy, Cape Town City have failed to maintain their impressive run.

The Citizens have faltered along the way as they currently find themselves sat at number six on the PSL log table with 36 points.

Under the former Bafana Bafana striker, City reached the MTN8 Cup final, bagged three successive wins in the Caf Confederation Cup’s early stages, but could not go beyond the first round as they lost to Mozambique’s Costa Do Sol.

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On the domestic scene, they were as high as second on the league table at various stages throughout the season and were seen as Nedbank Cup favourites after beating Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates, only to be dispatched by Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarter-finals.

However, to one of the club’s most talented midfielders in Lyle Lakay, he believes they have done well as a team.

Meanwhile, Lakay has revealed that the Citizens coach McCarthy is a hero to whom every football loving youngster looked up to in the Cape Town, and the former Bloemfontein Celtic winger joined the chorous singing the praises of the inspiring 2004 Uefa Champions League winner.

“Every boy growing up in Cape Town looked up to Benni when he was a player,” Lakay told IOL.

“I’m no different. Because of that, there is no need for motivation, you just know that you have to go out and give your best,” said the former Hellenic youngster.

“Just from the type of player that Benni was, and where he came from, you know that you want to push yourself for the coach,” he said.

The 26-year-old, though, honest as ever, admits that he is not entirely happy with the way things have gone for him this season.

“In the same way that the team has been up and down, so, too, I think my season has been up and down,” said Lakay.

“I don’t think I’ve done too badly, but I also haven’t done very well. If you look at the statistics, I’ve got three goals and I’m the highest with assists in all competitions, but I do believe that I could have contributed much, much more this season,” he added.

Although, he is about to finish his first season with the former Telkom Knockout Cup champions, the winger expressed the need for improvement as they wrap up their PSL campaign.

Since their loss in the second leg of the Confederation Cup last month, City have gone four matches without victory in all competitions (two losses and as many draws).

“It’s my first year at City, and it’s Benni’s first year as a coach,” added the former SuperSport United player.

“We are still in a good log position, so it hasn’t been all bad. The big problem, of course, has been scoring goals,” he reasoned.

“We just haven’t been able to convert the chances we create into goals.

“If we had been able to score more regularly, I am confident that we would have been competing with Sundowns for the PSL title,” he concluded.

As they are left with three matches, City will visit Polokwane City, host the second placed Orlando Pirates and pull down the curtain against AmaZulu away.

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