Manchester United have undergone considerable changes both on the pitch and in the dugout since the end of a dismal 2021/22 season and are reaping the rewards.
Erik ten Hag was appointed manager in May and was keen to bring assistant Mitchell van der Gaag with him from Ajax, as well as reuniting with former mentor Steve McClaren as someone who already had experience of working in a successful Old Trafford dressing room.
Ex-Ajax, Porto and Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy was also recruited at the end of July as a specialised attacking coach.
In addition to his spells in the Premier League, McCarthy was already pretty well known to United fans for his goals that helped Jose Mourinho’s Porto knock the Red Devils out of the Champions League back in 2003/04 en-route to lifting the trophy.
McCarthy finished his playing career in 2013 after a two-year spell with Orlando Pirates in the South African Premier Division. He moved into coaching within a couple of years, initially learning the ropes as an observer at Hibernian and then as an assistant with Belgian side Sint-Truiden.
A first head coach gig came at Cape Town City in 2017, winning South Africa’s MTN 8 Cup the following year, and later taking AmaZulu into the CAF Champions League off the back of their highest ever league finish. The latter feat earned him South African Premier Division Coach of the Year.
“[I want to] help these young players, push them, change their mindset and really try to make the difference to United this season,” McCarthy told MUTV a few days after his arrival in Manchester.
“Hopefully this season we’re going to see a completely revived United, a hungry bunch of players and a team that’s going to be able to challenge to get into the Champions League and change the dynamics of the Man Citys and Liverpools.”
Elaborating on the more specific nature of his role later that month, the former South Africa international explained what he has been tasked with: “Co-ordinating movements and finishing and making sure that the guys are sharp and that they’re ready and that the goalscoring continues and that they get the right goal scoring boots on.”
Erik ten Hag, himself a centre-back during his own playing career, explained only last month that McCarthy has brought ‘balance’ to the staff at Old Trafford because a lot of the existing coaches were defenders or midfielders as players.
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