Taking a step back and watching from the sidelines can give one a fresh perspective.
When facing a problem, sometimes putting your head down and getting stuck in only gets you deeper in the hole.
And the realisation that taking space from the coalface to look at the mountain seems to have hit the manne over at Cape Town City.
After shouting that they are going for the PSL title from the rooftops, they really haven’t been making their stem dik in the opening five games of the campaign.
So far they have won just one game, drawn three and lost one.
In those five matches, they have dropped points from winning positions in three matches.
Having seen this team get themselves into a position to challenge for the league title in the final two months of last season, they have the attributes to be the top team in South Africa.
But failing to learn their lessons and a frustrating knack of losing focus at crucial times is holding them back.
And it’s hit them hard that they are making the same mistakes over and over again.
The time must come to learn the lesson.
FIRED UP: Thabo Nodada, centre. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
That time is now says returning midfielder Thabo Nodada.
After four months of recovery from a knee injury, he came back with a bang last weekend, scoring two well-taken goals against SuperSport United.
Unfortunately for him and City’s title hopes, mistakes at the back saw them draw the game 3-3.
Earlier in the season, he had seen his teammates drop points at Baroka when they were 2-0 up and then again when Kaizer Chiefs came from a goal down to win 2-1.
But on Wednesday, he said he has had enough.
The 24-year-old lamented: “It’s not the start that we wanted. But it’s not all doom and gloom.
“I think we are playing well generally, and if we go on a run of five or six wins then we’ll be back in it.
“That’s what we need.
“Being out for the last four months, you realise that every moment on the pitch counts.
“And like the coach and the chairman has said this season we have to go for everything - especially the league.
“[As a club] it’s been four years and were contenders, contenders, contenders. And this time around, despite the results in the first five games, there must be a turnaround and we must for for the league.”
Skipper Thami Mkhize, ever reliable for City, believes that his teammates have finally got that into their heads.
He revealed that the players have been given the rundown on their errors and know exactly what they must work on.
FRUSTRATED: Benni McCarthy. Photo: BackpagePix.
Mkhize says: “The most important thing is that we know where we need to fix our mistakes and we know where we need to improve as a team.
“We do our analysis and if we can keep our concentration, we can see out the games that we play.
“It looks like a routine where we are struggling with the same problems last season.
“Wherever we are making mistakes, we know what we are doing. So we have to correct things now and have a better season this time.”
Coach Benni McCarthy had some harsh words to say to the team and after promising that the pitbull would be back after international break, his manne still had not learnt their lessons.
This time he sounded like a man who realised that he has to work with what he has got after seeing his pleas to re-sign former captain, defender Robyn Johannes fall on deaf ears.
The boss adds: “For us it’s about getting over the line. Of late we’ve played in patches. And it’s didn’t work for us.
“We need focus and consistency.It’s not like we’ve been all bad. Defensively we’ve let ourselves down. Let’s hope we give more complete performances.”
ALMOST READY: Taariq Fieleis, right. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
Maybe some of that patience will pay off now with defensive options Taariq Fielies and Kouassi Kouadja coming back to fitness in the next few weeks.
Benni’s continual message to these manne is that talent will get you nowhere if you don’t apply the hard work to allow your quality to shine through.
It’s time to deliver, or this may be the last time some of these players get close to winning the title.