Aden McCarthy embraces pressure at Kaizer Chiefs with help from club's mental coach

Aden McCarthy’s seamless adaptation and turn of events in the Kaizer Chiefs first team hasn’t come as a shock to his system, as he has ensured that he is always ready to face all the hype and criticism that comes with playing for the club and being the son of Fabian McCarthy.

McCarthy has had an impressive full debut season at Chiefs. He helped the team secure a third-place finish in the Betway Premiership through hard work on and off the pitch.

It was important for McCarthy to ensure that he stepped up for the team as he knew that he was going to be regularly compared to his father, Fabian, who was always a rock-solid defender at the club.

In aim to meet those high expectations, McCarthy took the less-travelled path by footballers, spending time in the gym and doing physical work through boxing, while also visiting mental coach, Dr. Henning Gericke. This paid off as he was able to focus more mentally.

Speaking ahead of Chiefs’ season finale against Chippa United at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off), where McCarthy is expected to feature in the match, he revealed the motivation behind his form.

“I have done boxing for over a year, but I had to stop because the schedule is heavy. I also saw a mental coach, so I think I am strong mentally,” the left-footed defender said. “So, yeah, I think that’s what has helped me.

“Initially, I went to see the mental coach, Mr Henni, who’s actually with the team now. So prior to him joining the club, I saw him three or four times. It was more to prepare myself for the future, what’s to come, what will be out of my control, and how I can manage it.”

Thanks to more visits with Dr. Gericke after he joined Chiefs, McCarthy became mentally stronger and used criticism and comparisons to his father as motivation.

“I wouldn’t say there’s pressure (to being my father’s son), but there’s always been outside noise and comparisons since I started playing in the reserve team. But I have always turned that into motivation,” McCarthy explained. “I want to do better than he did. I want to take it to another level.”

McCarthy’s hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Some admirers are already calling him to get a Bafana Bafana call-up in the near future. But again, thanks to his mental work with Dr. Gericke, McCarthy is not getting carried away.

“I am controlling what I can,” McCarthy said. “It has been a big thing in my mental journey to do that, on and off the pitch. It’s up to the national team coach, and any decision he makes will be respected.”

McCarthy’s strong mentality seems to have rubbed off on his defensive teammates, as Chiefs have managed the second-best defensive record in the league after conceding 18 goals so far, just six behind Orlando Pirates after 29 rounds of matches.

Much of the praise for the rock-solid defence has gone to goalkeeper Brandon Petersen, who has kept 15 clean sheets in only 24 games.

McCarthy, however, believes it is not only Petersen who has helped the team defensively, as the unit has come together to form strong bonds both on and off the pitch.

“From the pre-season tour that we did in the Netherlands, we did a lot of defensive work,” McCarthy said. “You can see it now on the field. Things that were happening then, the fruits are now showing with the number of goals conceded and Petersen’s clean sheets.

“At times, it was tough. It wasn’t easy defending in dribs and drabs. If you experience it, you’ll know that it’s not easy. We’ve tried our best to build a connection off the field as well, and I think that helped the team as a collective.”