Manchester United first-team coach Benni McCarthy has explained why he believes his former club Orlando Pirates’ Cup double in the just-ended season is not good enough.
Pirates had a successful 2022/24 season, clinching
MTN8 Cup and the Nedbank Cup in coach Jose Riveiro’s first year at the helm.
In addition, Pirates finished second in the DStv Premiership to secure a spot in next season’s CAF Champions League.
The only trophy the Soweto giants missed out on is the DStv Premiership as they won two of the three pieces of domestic silverware on offer. And despite the achievement, McCarthy was not impressed.
In an interview on 947 Radio [Marawa Sports Worldwide], McCarthy praised Pirates for the progress they made but maintained that the club should be challenging for league honours.
The ex-Bafana Bafana striker and UEFA Champions League winner said that a team of Pirates’ calibre should be winning the league as that’s the most prestigious trophy on the domestic front.
“You play all year to win the league. It is hard, so winning the MTN8 cup is great, winning the Nedbank Cup is also great, but I think the big one that you chase is the league,” said McCarthy.
“I think they’ve had a great season, but by their standards that’s not good enough. They’re supposed to be pushing Sundowns all the way to the wire. It should be a far more closer contest than what it is.”
Mamelodi Sundowns won the league title for the sixth time in a row.
To make matters worse, Sundowns sealed the league with seven games to spare.
And Pirates in second place, concluded the campaign a massive 16 points behind Sundowns, which is a concern for McCarthy.
Benni McCarthy, who won the league title with Pirates in the 2011/12 season, banging in goals for fun said his ex-team should catch up to Sundowns and close the gap.
READ:McCarthy reveals secret behind success at Manchester United
“Sundowns is a one-horse race in our league at the moment,” said the double treble winner with the Buccaneers.
“I hope that the progress Pirates is making and the new manager with what he is doing at the club is that he can push to make the league more interesting than what it was, like how it was before when we had four teams always battling each other and it can go either way.
“It’s almost always going down to the wire but the last few years has only been one-way traffic and that’s not fun.”