Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has revealed Erik ten Hag wanted to be in charge at Old Trafford “for the next 10 years” before he was sacked back in October.
The Dutchman was shown the door after a poor start to the season from the Red Devils, despite having been handed a contract extension just three months earlier and being allowed to revamp his coaching staff with the exits of McCarthy, Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag.
Former Blackburn and West Ham forward McCarthy spent two seasons under Ten Hag at Old Trafford before deciding to leave so he could return to management and is currently the head coach of Kenya.
But speaking about his time at United, McCarthy told BBC Sport Africa: “I was given an incredible opportunity to work with one of the biggest and best clubs in the world under the guidance of Erik ten Hag.
“I learned utmost professionalism because the manager I worked under was not just a disciplinarian, but he was the best and one of the most unbelievable professionals I’ve ever seen in the game.
“Extremely hard-working, very dedicated, very passionate, he planned on being the Manchester United coach for the next 10 years. That was his vision.”
Despite how things ended for him personally at United, McCarthy admits to feeling “proud” of his work at Old Trafford, having helped them win the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
“Everyone is talking about how bad, how terrible Manchester United is,” McCarthy added. “We still managed to win the FA Cup, we still managed to win the Carabao Cup. I was proud that I was part of that regime.
“Honest to god, I don’t know what the issue is. It is just such a huge football club and the problems just seem to go on and on – and I don’t know how they’re going to resolve it.”
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Ten Hag hints at ending management career
Ten Hag, meanwhile, recently opened up about his future plans and surprisingly revealed that he may never return to management.
“There are so many other things I could do,’ he said on the SEG Stories podcast. “Maybe in football, in a new position as a manager.
“That’s an option. And maybe something completely different. I’ve been working with my brothers lately. We have our own company. Or rather: they have their own company.
“But we also run a company together with our father. That’s also something I love to do I can now give that more attention and it’s also a lot of fun.”
Ten Hag’s winning percentage at United was almost at 55%, while Ruben Amorim’s currently stands at well below that figure – an eye-opening statistic for those who called for change.
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