Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag lacks fire and passion, says Benni McCarthy

Erik ten Hag lacks fire and passion, while a number of Manchester United stars don’t put in enough effort in training and in games.

This was the view of the club’s former first team coach, South African icon Benni McCarthy, who spent two years as a member of Ten Hag’s backroom staff.

Speaking to Portuguese outlet ZEROZERO, McCarthy said: “In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach. They need to feel that the coach is with them and willing to fight alongside them.

“Tactically, I feel that Erik is at the top. He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion. That’s where we differ, him and I.”

McCarthy’s comments won’t go down well at Old Trafford, where Ten Hag is once again under pressure following a poor run of results.

The former FC Porto and Blackburn Rovers star went on add that a number of United’s stars just did not put in the effort needed to help the club do well.

“If some of the Manchester United players had what Bruno [Fernandes] and Diogo [Dalot] have, it would have been easier to achieve good results,” said the former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach.

“They both trained with incredible concentration, giving everything they had. Some of the others didn’t do the same. This ended up limiting United’s progress, because some players weren’t training to the best of their ability. Even in games, the data showed us that some players were at their peak performance and others a little below,” he said.

McCarthy, who has in recent weeks been linked with Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaZulu, is currently in the country, and speculation has been rife that he’s about to push Manqoba Mngqithi out of his job as Sundowns boss.

Bafana Bafana’s record goalscorer has been out of the job since leaving the Old Trafford club at the end of last season.

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