Cape Town City new coach Muhsin Erugral is pleased with how his troops have quickly responded to his arrival, insisting that they can only grow in leaps and bounds.
Ertugral got off his City’s tenure on a high over the weekend, beating his former team Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the Betway Premiership at home.
And while the result was narrow, City showed flashes of resurgence all round - defence, midfield, and attack. Hence, goalkeeper Darren Keet also kept a clean sheet.
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That positive outlook was starting to fade for the Citizens under the coach Eric Tinkler who was sacked on New Year’s Eve and replaced by Ertugral.
Ertugral brings a wealth of experience to City following domestic and international gigs, including being the Turkish national team technical director for the past four years.
The 65-year-old coach, who only had three days to train the team before facing Chiefs, reflected on what he needed to work on to stamp his authority in the team.
“We don’t have the time at all,” Ertugral admitted “What can you change in three days? You can (not) change a lot, but the collectiveness, spirit and belief in themselves.
“That worked during training sessions very well. They loved it, and then we came back to another system – the organisation pattern.
“It didn’t work for them, but they were saying ‘no coach, we stay with it, we like it’. That interchange was very good, so I wanted to have that feedback.
“We must bring them back into the line, so that when the whistle goes, they must play. So that freedom of certain aspects must be there.”
City haven’t lacked competitiveness. Since their establishment during the 2017/18 season, they’ve incredibly poised themselves as one of the top five clubs in the land.
They’ve been on an upward trajectory so much so that they’ve already finished second on the log, and qualified for the coveted Caf Champions League.
Ertugral knows all about City’s previous highs, especially having been intensely following the club after returning from the 2024 Euros, and that’s why he’s picked up on their shortcomings.
“You don’t have linear success every time,” Ertugral stressed. “This team was always in the top five in the previous years.
“Now, they are in a bar that is giving us a little bit of motivation, self-belief, and the collectiveness, which I knew in the last couple of months they had to work on. We’ve done that.”
Ertugral has already done a lot at the club since returning in a short space of time. He has played a role in the return of defender Nathan Fasika.
The DR Congo international returned to the club this summer following a loan stint with Norway based side Valerenga.
And while he didn’t play for the side this season, the 25-year-old still showed incredible fitness upon his return to the Citizens, including winning the Player of the Match award against Chiefs.
“Phew, a lot!” Ertugral gushed over what Fasika brings to the team. “In one against one situations, he’s very difficult to play against. You don’t pass him very easily.
“I saw Fasika a year ago – he’s one of the quickest players in this team … He has obviously not played a lot, but he was in the highest level in Europe, and trained against (the best).
“When I came in, and we had these measuring tests of how quickly he could recover from this situation, he looked pretty confident.”
“You can have these tactical issues, all wonderful, but players need to have that finesse, confidence, and synergy in the game. And I think Fasika has the potential to reach higher levels.”