Erik ten Hag’s former assistant claims Manchester United manager lacks ‘fire and passion’

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Erik ten Hag’s former assistant Benni McCarthy has claimed that the Manchester United manager lacks “fire” and “passion” as pressure again builds on the Dutchman at Old Trafford.

A damaging defeat to Tottenham has led to renewed speculation over Ten Hag’s future after he narrowly avoided losing his job this summer.

It continued a difficult start to the season for the club that has left them languishing in 13th place in the Premier League with just two wins from their first six games.

Benni McCarthy spent two seasons on Ten Hag’s staff before departing this summer, and believes that while his former boss is tactically strong, he may be lacking in the qualities required to spark a turnaround in fortunes.

“In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach,” the former Porto and Blackburn striker told Portuguese outlet ZeroZero. “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.”

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Manchester United visit Porto on Thursday night hoping to bounce back from a disappointing draw at home to FC Twente in their Europa League opener.

McCarthy also believes that some players must take the blame for the club’s struggles, picking out Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot as a pair with the right attitudes for others to follow.

“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 McCarthy.

“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.”