Erik Ten Hag hits back at Benni McCarthy after his former coach accused the under-fire Man United manager of lacking ‘fire and passion’
- The Red Devils were languishing in twelfth place in the league and had to salvage a draw against Porto tonight
- Former colleague McCarthy was the last to criticize Ten Hag earlier this week
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Erik Ten Hag has come out of the closet after his former coach Benni McCarthy became the latest football figure to brutally criticize the embattled Manchester United manager.
The Dutchman appears to be on borrowed time at Old Trafford, after a humiliating 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday continued a disastrous start to the season that has seen the Red Devils languish in 12th place after six games. Tonight a point was saved against Porto thanks to a last-minute equalizer from Harry Maguire.
United are reportedly backing the under-fire boss, but in the wake of the Spurs debacle, club legends including Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand spoke out to offer scathing criticism of the 54-year-old.
Earlier this week, former assistant McCarthy joined the bandwagon, claiming Ten Hag lacks ‘a bit of that fire, that passion’ in an astonishing assessment of the manager.
Ahead of United’s dramatic 3-3 draw against Porto, the Dutch boss hit back at his ex-colleague and stoically defended his record at the club in an interview with TNT Sports.
Erik Ten Hag came out after his former coach Benni McCarthy became the latest football figure to issue brutal criticism
The Dutchman appears to be on borrowed time at Old Trafford after a humiliating 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur
Earlier this week, former aide McCarthy joined the bandwagon, claiming Ten Hag is ‘missing a bit of that fire, that passion’
He said, ‘I don’t know what he means. If you win trophies, you can’t do it without passion and desire.’
McCarthy was asked by Portuguese publication ZEROZERO this week why United have struggled to be more competitive in games. The 46-year-old’s reaction was telling.
‘In modern football I believe that players have a… little bit more passion in their coach,” McCarthy said.
‘They need to feel that the coach is with them and is willing to fight alongside them.
‘Tactically I have the feeling that Erik is at the top. He’s missing a bit of that fire, that passion.
“That’s where we differ, he and I.”
McCarthy was also critical of the players’ application in training during his time at United.
The South African singled out two players for praise and felt that if the rest of the squad had trained as hard as they did, the results might have been better.
“If some of the Manchester United players had what Bruno (Fernandes) and Diogo (Dalot) have, it would have been easier to get good results,” McCarthy said.
‘They both trained with incredible concentration and gave everything they had. Some others did not do the same.
The South African worked under Ten Hag for two seasons, but left the club this summer
Ten Hag has come under increasing pressure after last Sunday’s heavy 3-0 defeat against Tottenham
The former assistant praised Bruno Fernandes for the amount of effort he puts into training
United rescued a point against Porto in the Europa League thanks to a goal from Harry Maguire
‘This ultimately limited United’s progress as some players did not train optimally. Even in games, the data showed us that some players were performing at their peak and others were performing slightly below that.”
Should United choose to sack Ten Hag, it could reportedly cost them £17.5 million per goal, as the club handed the Dutchman a contract extension in the summer after he survived an internal review.
Former Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi has been mooted as a potential replacement, while ex-England boss Gareth Southgate continues to be linked with the post.