Chiefs thumping forces McCarthy to rethink City's strategy against Pirates

Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy says he might have to rein in his attacking instincts as he prepares his side for the away Absa Premiership clash against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday.

City were thumped 4-1 by Kaizer Chiefs at home on Saturday after going down to 10 men with a red card for Taariq Fielies‚ the scoreline in part coming about because they kept on going for the jugular against Chiefs even after they lost a man and were exposed defensively.

McCarthy says that with what will be a new central defensive pairing against Pirates‚ perhaps the time has come to show a little more caution.

“Maybe we don’t need to be as brave as I always want us to be.

"We don’t sit back and respect no-one.

"We try to play our football and our game‚ where we know we can create chances and punish teams if we take our chances‚” McCarthy said.

“But maybe we need to change a little bit our mindset rather than trying to go every time pound-for-pound with teams. Especially with losing [Taariq] Fielies now.

“Maybe we take a different approach to how we play Pirates‚ and that is not to say we go there and park two busses‚ but maybe to be a bit more responsible and think about the way we attack the next game.”

Aside from the loss of Fielies to suspension‚ McCarthy hinted at further changes in the defence‚ as well as a switch of goalkeeper with Sage Stephens perhaps getting a game in the place of Dutch gloveman Peter Leeuwenburgh.

“When you concede four goals‚ it is not so easy mentally for a goalkeeper to take‚ especially when he has done so amazingly well‚” McCarthy said.

“Maybe a fresh combination [in defence] after (Saturday's) performance is what is needed‚ some motivation for whoever gets the nod to come in now. We have got Keanu Cupido‚ who has done well whenever he has been called upon.

“Kouassi [Kouadja] has also done exceptionally well every time he has been on the pitch.

“We will probably lose [captain Thami] Mkhize as well as he was struggling throughout the game [against Chiefs].

"He has seen the medics and they say he has suffered an allergic reaction to some medicine or something.

“Craig Martin played with a massive ball on the back of his head as he gets smashed every game and nothing gets done.

"So I have got a couple of players that might not be available for Pirates. But we should have enough depth in the squad.”