Benni McCarthy: If Manchester United had backed Erik ten Hag with the players he wanted, we would still be at Old Trafford now

In an exclusive interview with Betonlinepromocodes.com, the South African goal-machine and former Manchester United coach, Benni McCarthy, blasts the club for failing to sign Cody Gapko and launches a passionate defence of former manager Erik ten Hag. 

Manchester United

Q: Rasmus Hojlund has had a tough time at Old Trafford since he arrived at the club. How much is the Amorim system impacting him given the lack of service he inevitably gets?

Benni McCarthy: I think that Rasmus will be alright, I don’t think it’s necessarily just a problem with him. I think the club needs to properly adapt to understanding the principles of how Amorim has to play. If you look at how things were when Erik ten Hag and I were at the club, we were always trying to improve the service to him.

We knew that he wasn’t getting the service and the team wasn’t playing to his strengths as we wanted. He’s only young, but he’s so strong, he’s so powerful, but he still needed to develop some skills. That’s still true, he needs to learn how to fend off players and protect the ball. He still needs to get that right, it was one of his weaker points.

The biggest thing he can offer is his speed, and getting in behind players. I think we never set up the team to exploit that, and that’s why he looked like he was struggling. He’d been starved of service.

Amorim now is using a completely different style of playing, and he needs to make the team a unit that matches Hojlund’s style. But also, the Premier League is the toughest league to adjust to. He’s got all the attributes to come good. Not everyone can adapt as quickly as Erling Haaland. I think at the moment, United’s players haven’t gotten comfortable with the system or don’t really understand the system that Amorim wants to play.

But he’s had two seasons under his belt, he knows what is needed in England now. If he stays, I’m sure he’ll come good.

Q: Between Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee who do you think United should keep hold of for next season ? 

Benni McCarthy: I think between Hojlund and Zirzkee, I would move Zirkzee on, but that’s because he’s not an out-and-out striker.

I’ve worked with Rasmus personally, and he’s great. He’s got all the attributes to become a top player. With time and the right guidance – including the right manager – he can elevate his game, especially if a team plays for him. That’s a player with a lot going for him who could make players around him better .

You learn things about players that you sign, and he’ll be able to take you far. He’s a fantastic lad, and you don’t let those kinds of players go. For me, you should stick with Hojlund.

I know people are disappointed with him because of his price tag, but he’s young. Some players are slow burners, but once things click, he’s got everything. He’s got the attitude, mentality, physique – everything. They need to give him a chance and he will come good.

Q: Matheus Cunha is undoubtedly a huge talent but can be temperamental as Wolves can atone too. What is your view on the signing and given some of United’s poor transfer business over the last few years they should be looking at character of players as well as ability?

Benni McCarthy: Matheus Cunha is just what Manchester United need. They need a player starving for success. He will be coming in with a completely different mindset. He isn’t affected by what has happened before. This move is his dream, to play for a club like United.

He’s a raw talent, from the streets of Brazil. I think he will be a player that can flourish under Amorim. He’s coming in with a manager who understands him, speaks his language, with no communication barrier. That’s a huge plus to help him settle.

I think Amorim is going to put his arm around him and make him feel special. He needs to be treated like a special player. He’s definitely what United need. They don’t need nice players, who do everything by the book. We need someone who is an animal, who’s used to struggling. United are in the wilderness and we need animals who know how to survive. They need a player who has a don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, who will barge people out of the way to get what they need.

United have been bullied over the last few years. When I was there, I asked myself, where has the fight gone from this team? We didn’t have players who would get stuck in. Cunha will. He’ll take the fight to people and players will follow him. But we don’t have those leaders anymore.

When Licha Martinez is back, you’ll have two pit bulls in the side, players who love fighting. Hopefully the team follow them and Amorim brings in more players with that attitude. His style of play needs players like him. The time for excuses is over. They have to get it right now.

Q: How close did you come to signing for United?

Benni McCarthy: When I was at Blackburn, there was a chance. I think Mark Hughes had told Fergie a lot about me and my personality, how I am off the field. He’d want you to be good enough on the pitch, of course, but he wanted to know how I was outside football.

The fact that I was a United fan, I was so tempted to jump at the chance to join United, but unfortunately it happened at the same time that Chelsea wanted me. For me, after everything at Porto, Jose Mourinho was just so special to me, the best manager I’d ever worked for. So for me, any chance to work for Jose would beat anything, even playing for my boyhood club.

Unfortunately, my loyalty was ultimately with Jose, and he really wanted me at Chelsea, and so I dismissed everything, including United. Blackburn had always said they would let me go if it was United that came calling, but I’d focused it all on moving to Chelsea, and they wouldn’t sell to them.

I’d spoken to Jose, I couldn’t betray him. My relationship with Jose was too special. I can’t say that if I’d gone to United that I would have succeeded. Who knows what would have happened? But my heart was with Jose, and it came at a big cost. I didn’t move to Chelsea and United didn’t happen.

Q: Was it a mistake to sell Scott McTominay?

Benni McCarthy: Of course, there are different reasons why you sell homegrown players sometimes. When they go, the profit lets you sign more players.

Having said that, it was one of the biggest mistakes in football to let him leave. He was born to play for United. Maybe he wasn’t the most technical, but he had fight, and I think it’s what they will get back with Matheus Cunha.

Scotty was a player that you look for in a dressing room to get you where you want to be. To let him go for what was a small transfer fee was a big shame. I think everyone at the club regrets that decision.

Q: Was their one player you wanted at United you didn’t sign?

Benni McCarthy: Cody Gakpo was the one that we wanted the most and missed out on. I think he was the first player that we sat down and discussed, and decided that he was the player who would fit in perfectly.

We knew we could play him alongside Marcus Rashford, when Rashy was really on song in 2022. I think we were so close to getting him. At one stage, it was ours to lose. The agent knew Erik, and there were really good talks.

The manager asked me to write up a profile for the player and to take it to the scouting department, so they knew my opinion. I watched the player, I made my case for why he would be ideal. He could play on the left, he could work as a false nine. With him and Rashford we’d have been strong down the middle and on the left.

Then you had Alejandro Garnacho coming through, and we wanted to play him down the right. It would have been perfect.

Then I was told the scouting department had watched him numerous times and they didn’t rate him. They said the stats weren’t right. For me, with my experience, I know what you need to deliver at a special club. You don’t need stats to tell you that. The naked eye gives you so much more than just stats. Obviously, the club have a system, and the system won, so he joined Liverpool and won the league.

People can say what they like but we tried to bring in great players that would fit. I know the manager always takes the blame, but sometimes the club needs to look at itself. Good players escaped our grasp. Erik knew what we needed.

Q: What did you make of Jadon Sancho’s training ground efforts?

Benni McCarthy: I couldn’t fault Jadon in training. He brings unbelievable quality, ability and skills. He can make you stop in awe and ask yourself just how he can do things. He brought unmatched quality.

I think what didn’t help Jadon was that he’s a very closed-off person. He keeps to himself, and from the outside it looked like he wasn’t trying to make friends with his team-mates. He might not have joked around but really he was just quiet, and I don’t think you should judge players on who he gets on with or not.

Based on his ability and craft, I never saw any problems in his relationships. He was quiet natured, and so when training is done, he doesn’t stay to talk, he heads home. He’s very private. I think a bit of an extrovert, which isn’t the opinion he gets branded with in the press.

I think that when it came to Erik, he wanted to see Jadon at his best everyday. Monday to Friday, no days off. I think that’s what the manager would expect from his players, and so it’s up to the players to give it to him. If you can’t do that, you’re going to have problems, and I think the differences and problems then surfaced.

For me, I don’t have a bad thing to say about Jadon. I loved him, he was unbelievable, sometimes he was unplayable. I don’t want to rush to judgement on players if they’re reserved.

Q: What stopped you buying players with the mentality you wanted?

Benni McCarthy: I don’t know what relationship Erik had with the board, in terms of who he tried to buy. What I do know is that I remember we would look at players and I would be involved in that. He asked me to identify the attacking players that would suit United. We had a really strong list of players that we wanted – we weren’t always given that.

I don’t know how much influence he was given on the players he wanted. I think if he had been given the players we wanted, he’d still be in charge now. The players we wanted now are in the Premier League elsewhere and they have excelled for clubs who are United’s rivals.

That was why it ended for us. He didn’t get who he wanted, and the board didn’t give him what he wanted.

Benni’s career

Q: How do you look back at your time at Manchester United working with Erik ten Hag?

Benni McCarthy: It was a wonderful opportunity to learn, and I respect the game even more now because I know now exactly what it takes to be a top-level manager.

In Erik, I saw one working first-hand. He was relentless in his work and how he wanted to perfect things. Of course, it didn’t always go to plan, because we weren’t given the right tools. We didn’t have the players we’d identified as the ones we wanted. But he tried to make it work, to fit everyone into his team, to make United great once more.

Listen, we were in charge of United when Manchester City were demolishing everything, winning the treble, but we beat them to win the FA Cup, and we won the Carabao Cup when they were at their best. People talk about Pep’s City as the best ever, but we won two major trophies in that era. The team, the technical team, deserve respect for what they achieved. Yes, we didn’t win the league, but we took them to finals and won things.

Against Sevilla in the Europa League semi-final we were unlucky. We destroyed them at Old Trafford and we let them off the hook, and they beat us at Seville. If we won that, I think we’d have won the Europa League as well.

We were solid, we looked a good side against a strong Barcelona as well. We had destroyed a lot of teams. We should be proud of what we achieved, and I hope the club can build on what we did. Unfortunately, there’s a change of owner, and that brings a new set of problems.

Q: What are some of your best memories of winning the Champions league with Jose Mourinho and Porto?

Benni McCarthy: My greatest memory is just the sense of camaraderie that we had in the team. We had such a unique team. It was a family environment. It was a rule, twice a month we had to go out for team bonding, have a few drinks. It was an obligation. The whole squad, everyone was present. I think when you have those moments with team-mates, intimate moments where you get to know each other more, it’s vital. You get to talk about everything, more than just football.

You understand each other more, you know their lifestyle, what is going on with them, their problems. That was amazing and it made us successful.

When it came to matches we played, we could go to the Bernabeu to play Real Madrid in the Champions League or Manchester United. We had no business winning that tie, but we had camaraderie and understood each other. We knew what this meant to us all to beat Manchester United. We knew it would change our lives in football.

We wanted the spotlight that came with beating Real and United. Then we went all the way and beat Monaco in the final.

We hadn’t expected to face them in the final. You always think you’ll get a European giant like Barcelona or AC Milan, but we’d knocked most of them out already. When we came up against Monaco, we were just clearly superior. We destroyed Man Utd, we competed against Real, we fancied ourselves to get past Lyon.

We’d beaten Deportivo La Coruna and AC Milan. We knew we deserved to be there, and against Monaco, we fancied ourselves big time. Of all the teams we faced, they were probably the weakest.

We knew if we played like we had against United, Lyon, the others, we’d blow them away, and so we did. There were so many special moments as we claimed a prestigious trophy. Nobody expected us to be there – that’s Porto.

Q: During your time in England you played over four years at Blackburn. Is this club you would love to manage someday during your managerial career?

Benni McCarthy: I’ve still got a great connection with Blackburn. There are still people at the club today who I know from when I was there. They’re still a family club in some respects, so I would really see managing Blackburn as a phenomenal opportunity.

I know the club and when I was there, we were successful in our battles against relegation. We were always in the top half of the league. Only under Paul Ince were we threatened with relegation, but Sam Allardyce came in and we finished 10th.

I’ve got amazing memories with Blackburn. I love the fans. I was one of the players that was well received from the moment I walked through the door.

I know the club are struggling at the moment out of the top flight for so many years. You wonder if they need to get a manager who really understands the club and what the badge means. Arte et Labore – art and labour. They need someone who will bleed for the club as manager. I would do whatever it takes to make sure the club can get back to where it belongs.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things get done, and I think I’m very far from being considered, for whatever reason. It is what it is, it’s politics. We’ll never know, but it is one of my biggest desires. I’d love to manage my former clubs. Blackburn, Porto, Ajax.

You always want to give back to the club that gave you everything as a player.

South African football

Q: You moved to the Netherlands at a young age, and played in Spain, Portugal and England. Where would you like to see Mofokeng playing? Bafana coach Hugo Broos mentioned countries like Belgium and the Netherlands. Do you think Spain, England or Germany is too soon at this stage in his career?

Benni McCarthy: I think he should consider going to the Scottish League, somewhere like that, so he can work his way up from there. Rangers and Celtic always need strikers they can bring on and develop before selling onto bigger clubs.

Some players are happy to stay in Africa and they can make a decent living, but they become irrelevant if they don’t test themselves as hard as they can. If you play in Europe, you can excel, and he could also move to the Dutch or the Portuguese league. If you succeed there, it’s only a matter of time before the Premier League sides come calling. I think he’s got the ability and he needs to give himself the opportunity.

Q: In your day, Bafana Bafana was made up of a lot of players who were playing abroad. Not so much in recent years, and the national team has suffered. Recently, though, there’s been an uptick in the team’s fortunes, while still having a large number of players based at home. Do you think that is saying a lot about the improvement in the quality of domestic football in recent years?

Benni McCarthy: We’ve dropped the ball a bit in developing our players. While players can do so much better financially here now, it means they have less reason to go abroad.

They don’t have the same incentive to try to make it to England, whether or not they stay in League One, or if they make it all the way to the Premier League. Going to Scotland, too, helps them develop.

If they stay at home, they improve the teams in South Africa. But to be fair, they’re doing so much better in the qualifiers now, but the real test will be when they have to play in the World Cup against European and South American teams. Only then will we know how far these players have come. I’d love our players to be a bit more ambitious. Years ago, maybe 95 percent of our players were in Europe, all over the continent. We were all at a high level and you could see that when we got back to the national side. We were always present at the major tournaments, but now we’ve disappeared because we didn’t have that quality. Now, the league, it’s much better, but we need that test to know just how good we really are.

Q: You’re still South Africa’s all-time top goal scorer – what do you think made you so lethal in front of goal?

Benni McCarthy: I loved football. I love football and I love scoring goals, and I think that was the difference. Nowadays I think players have so much interference in their lives away from their day to day job. You know, players have companies, they’ve got so many people doing so many things for them, and they don’t need to do that themselves.

When I was coming through, it was football, eat, sleep. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. So I spent loads of time just doing what I do best – playing football. When training is done, more, you do extra. When you get back from training, you have a kickabout, you play indoor football.

The point is you were always perfecting your craft of scoring goals. It was just my favourite thing to do. I hated training because I just wanted to be the top scorer. I literally love playing football. Players these days, unless you pull them aside to do more work, they just go home. Everyone just leaves.

Q: What message do you have for young South Africans trying to go pro?

Benni McCarthy: Keep working hard, keep believing in yourself. No one’s going to open any doors for you. No one’s going to make life easy for you. You’re going to be disappointed once, twice, and then that is when there could be an opportunity for you to achieve what you always wanted to.

Nowadays, younger players tend to give up at the first setback. They’re not persistent, there’s not enough determination to succeed. Hard work is a talent of its own, it’s not something you just do for its own sake.

Q: Orlando Pirates’ 20-year-old sensation Relebohile Mofokeng is making waves in South African football, and has been linked with a move to Europe soon. As someone who made the move at quite a young age, what would your advice be for him? And what must he avoid to become a top player? South African football is littered with talented players who moved to Europe but didn’t make it.

Benni McCarthy: I’ve watched him several times, and I think he’s got huge potential. He’s got the mentality, the football brains and mentality of players from my generation.

He’s generations ahead of the current crop of players. I think he’s got what it takes to make it in Europe. I would encourage him to find a way to play in Europe. South Africa, yes, it has some of the best players in Africa, but Africa is a small continent in football terms. When you play in Europe, you get the chance to play against the biggest and the best. It’s you against the world.

Club World Cup

Q: Who do you think will win the Club World Cup?

Benni McCarthy: There are two strong favourites, two teams who have impressed me, but one of them was knocked out last night (Manchester City), so I’m going to have back the French and current European champions PSG.

PSG are flying. They’ve got a young team, they’re exciting, and the manager gets so much out of them every game. It doesn’t matter what competition they’re in, he wants to win them all. They’ve been hugely impressive.

As much as Real Madrid have been talked about, they’re just a little short, along with Bayern Munich.

Q: As a South African, how pleased were you with Mamelodi Sundowns’ performance?

Benni McCarthy: I watched as much as possible, and I’ve focused on the Premier League teams because it’s where I played and worked for so long. It’s interesting to see how they are coping in the scorching heat, difficult conditions, but of course I have my watchful eye on African teams.

I think Mamelodi Sundowns held their own, they did themselves proud. I think they had enough to even go through, because the European teams look to be struggling in the conditions.

I think there are chances for South American teams, and I had thought the same for African teams because we’re accustomed to that heat and humidity. Of course, the top clubs like Man City, PSG  and Bayern, they might just have too much quality despite that.

I know Dortmund really struggled with the heat and I thought that would give the Sundowns the chance to better them, but it wasn’t meant to be.

West Ham

Q: At West Ham do you think Graham Potter will be successful without the transfer wizardry of Tony Bloom at Brighton?

Benni McCarthy: I think at Brighton he might have had more of a say. He gathered the squad together, and implemented a system that worked. He created an atmosphere where players would fight with him and they were so successful.

At Brighton, it was a collection of young players but at West Ham, I think they’re older, more experienced and to an extent more proven. You’ve got a lot of proven players at West Ham, and that’s an advantage. If you have fewer younger players, you can avoid the problems of getting them to understand the league.

What Potter needs now is to get his players playing his brand of football and winning matches. The task is to get the players to tick. If he can do that, they’ve got some serious players. You’ve got Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, and Mohammed Kudus. My goodness, what an attack. This is when Potter’s managerial skills count.

But West Ham isn’t an easy place for managers. Somehow, there’s always something that is holding them back, from maximising their potential. I think he needs to find a way to get them to gel, and more importantly, to get them to believe they can achieve something together.

They can’t keep having players of this quality and then just battling against the drop, surviving by the skin of their teeth. They can cause major upsets next season if Potter gets them playing their best.