Benni McCarthy is nothing like his former coach Jose Mourinho.
And Cape Town City boss Benni should take that as a compliment after this week.
While they both lost the matches they were in charge of on Tuesday night, the similarities end there.
On the one hand, Benni’s manne looked to attack and gave everything to try and win their Telkom Knockout match at AmaZulu.
City dominated the first half and until a groin injury to winger Craig Martin forced a halftime change that pretty much changed the dynamic of the game, Benni’s boys looked on course for another cup win.
While the introduction of Ayanda Patosi didn’t help as much as maybe moving skipper Thami Mkhize into a wingback position or having someone more defensively disciplined on that right flank, Benni did try to remedy the situation.
The big problem for the coach - on the night, as much as any other match - was the final ball into the striker and the quality of the finishing.
It was a far cry from Jose’s handling of Manchester United. Against Juventus, United looked meek at Old Trafford.
Juve ran the show at the Theatre of Dreams and the home fans lapped up the return of their old hero Cristiano Ronaldo, while the players rolled out the red carpet to goal for Bianconeri attack.
Jose didn’t even make one substitute to stem the tide.
After the match, some more differences came to light.
Benni challenged his players to do better, warning them to improve “or else”.
HARD-WORKING: CT City’s Gift Links, right, tackled back. Photo: GERHARD DURAAN/BACKPAGEPIX
Jose simply said that his manne can’t compare to the world’s best like Ronaldo or Paulo Dybala or the “amazing” Giorgio Chiellini and Christian Bonucci.
He said that his £90m striker Romelu Lukaku “tried hard” and his £30m defender Victor Lindelof had a “positive game”.
And the former Real Madrid boss went on to compare his squad with the likes of the Bernabeu outfit, cross-town rivals Manchester City and Barcelona, saying those are big clubs and that United are not on that level.
But then came the biggest difference between Jose and Benni.
It was the conscience to see oneself in a situation and question one’s own agency in this.
Jose called for more spending after already splashing out £400m since his arrival in 2016, compared to £430m by Juve, of which £89m was from the then-record sale of Paul Pogba.
It’s amazing how poor he makes the richest club in the world sound and how he just doesn’t have the resources to improve his team.
Not once did the Special One accept that all the reports of infighting at the club and sly criticism of his players have an effect on performance.
That’s why I have to give it up for Benni when he questioned his methods and his work after the AmaZulu defeat.
The MTN8 triumph now feels like a distraction from City’s one win from their eight PSL matches this term.
Benni knows that his team needs improving and he will look to change things to get the results.
It’s a good thing he is nothing like Jose. Benni should remember his job is to coach. Maybe Jose needs to learn from Benni.