You want a Ferrari but you give me a Fiat Uno: Benni on turning down AmaZulu

Benni McCarthy politely rejected an approach by AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu to return to the club for a second spell after they fired Pablo Franco Martin this season because it was not the right project.

McCarthy enjoyed a brief but highly successful spell at Usuthu between 2021 and 2022 where he led the team to second place in the 2020-2021 Premiership as the club qualified for the Champions League for the first time. 

He left, he said, after disagreements with Zungu on what Bafana Bafana's all-time leading scorer saw as unreasonable expectations that he challenge for the title in the next season, despite strong reinforcements not being forthcoming. 

The club stagnated under Brandon Truter, Romain Folz and then Martin, who was fired in October after he lost the opening three matches of the 2024-2025 campaign, replaced by Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi. 

“The president [Zungu] sent me a message and I spoke to him about the possibility of returning [to the club] but I have moved on and my time at AmaZulu was perfect,” said McCarthy, who is eyeing a coaching job in the US's Major League Soccer, where he said he has had interviews with three teams.

“I loved and enjoyed working with the president and the rest of the guys because they made me feel like I was the head coach. There was no interference, I had full control of the team and I could play the system I wanted to. 

“I had an open dialogue and if I needed something, I expressed my desire to the president and if it was within his reach he gave it to me. It was the perfect relationship between the president and a coach, which is how it is supposed to be.” 

McCarthy said things at Usuthu turned sour when the team started punching above their weight and expectations were heightened. He suggested, apart from his ambitions globally being raised by having worked as Manchester United forwards coach from 2022 to 2024, such issues would be a major stumbling block to a return to Usuthu.

“I was able to do what I did with AmaZulu, but where there is success comes problems. Now the president wanted to compete for the title, but you can’t compete for the title if you don’t want to invest.

“You want a Ferrari but you give me a Fiat Uno or Corsa engine and expect me to compete. [Mamelodi] Sundowns people come with Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and I must put a Corsa engine in a Ferrari to compete with them. 

“It doesn’t work like that — give me a weapon to fight with. The problem was when the club didn’t want to spend by bringing in the players we needed because we were playing in the Caf Champions League and you must go with the same team. 

“Those players were exhausted. We reached a limit with that team and we needed fresh blood — and when that wasn’t coming in, you are going to have setbacks. You are going to have a difficult time to do it for the second time around and that’s where problems came. 

“The club felt someone better must come in and I wished them well. When you have something good, hold on to it and give them what they need. I didn’t want what Sundowns have. We shook hands and parted ways.

“There is still respect but now you realise you made a big mistake and it’s too late. That train has moved on to Manchester United. It is never going to come back to Usuthu and unfortunately it wasn't the right project for me and I politely declined.” 

McCarthy parted ways with AmaZulu in March 2022, soon after an exit in the Champions League group stage and with Usuthu sitting in ninth place in the 2021-2022 Premiership.