At a time when Erik ten Hag is facing pressure and scrutiny from all sides due to a barren run of results, he could have perhaps counted upon the support of his former colleagues.
Benni McCarthy isn’t having any of it, if his recent comments are any indication.
The South African coach worked with Erik ten Hag for two seasons before departing this summer as the Manchester United coaching staff saw an overhaul.
Now, after questioning Ten Hag’s “fire and passion” recently, McCarthy has given another statement that, while understandable, isn’t likely to help the Man Utd manager less than five months after McCarthy left.
Benni McCarthy’s admission
During his career, McCarthy has had the privilege of working and coaching under some of football’s greatest personalities.
Between spending half a decade in the Premier League and winning the Champions League with FC Porto, he has had quite a footballing experience.
Recently, McCarthy spoke to Portuguese outlet Zerozero and revealed the type of coach he wanted to be, naming one inspiration in particular.
He said: “We must take this commitment to the pitch. And we must do it with passion and love. It is through these feelings that we develop the best football players and the best coaches. I have great references in the world of coaching and I would love to see this passion in their work. José Mourinho is the best example I can give.
“He was my best coach and he always lived by this code of commitment. He was passionate and he made our team a team that was also passionate about their work. For Mourinho, and for FC Porto, the players played with pride, passion, and love and that is why we won 99 percent of the games. That is the type of coach I have been and always try to be.”
Passion vs progression debate
Nobody will argue that Ten Hag hasn’t been up to the mark at Man United for quite some time now but the “lack of passion and fire” is an extremely simplistic stick to beat him with.
The same criticism wasn’t thrown around when he took over and finished third in the league while winning the Carabao Cup.
The reality is that there are clear flaws in the manager’s tactical structure and if anything, the fact that players still back him means he is clearly doing something right on the man management side of things.
As for McCarthy’s pick, it is understandable since the greatest moment of his club career came under the Portuguese with the UCL win.
He spent two seasons at United where he wasn’t even the main assistant, who was Mitchell Van der Gaag. McCarthy was the attacker’s coach and United have arguably upgraded in that area, signing Ruud van Nistelrooy with a broader remit.
Still, overall, his comments are not pretty reading for Ten Hag as instead of remaining silent on the manager or giving a vanilla response, McCarthy has actually chosen to twist the knife at a time when the speculation around Ten Hag’s future is already relentless.
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