Former Manchester United coach praises two stars as Erik ten Hag and teammates slammed

Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy believes Erik ten Hag lacks the 'fire and passion' required to be a success at Old Trafford.

McCarthy worked with Ten Hag during his first two seasons in charge of United but decided to leave the club in the summer in order to pursue his own management ambitions.

The 46-year-old enjoyed his time at Old Trafford, but believes former colleague Ten Hag is more of a tactician than the motivator the club needs.

“In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach," he 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.”

McCarthy also went on to critique the training standard at Carrington, suggesting United were held back by a lack of effort from some of their senior players.

He added: “If some of the Manchester United players had what Bruno and Diogo have, it would have been easier to achieve good results. They both trained with incredible concentration, giving everything they had. Some of the others didn’t do the same.

“This ended up limiting the United team’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. It didn’t help the team to be successful.”