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Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has emphasised his desire to leave the club in search of pastures anew and to test himself as a manager.
McCarthy recently admitted that he wants to make the jump and become a manager in his own right.
The former striker was appointed to Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff in 2022 and had a profound impact during his first season at Carrington.
The South African was primarily credited with Marcus Rashford’s upturn in fortunes on the pitch, which saw the forward plunder an impressive 30 goals across all competitions last term.
Even Ten Hag publicly praised McCarthy for his influence and for fostering a culture of togetherness at the club. McCarthy is thought to be a very popular figure among the players.
The 46-year-old said in an interview that he wants to once again experience the adrenaline of decision-making and leading from the front as a club boss.
It’s important to note that McCarthy previously served as the manager of Cape Town City in 2017 before he was sacked.
He then spent another two years with AmaZulu in his native South Africa before arriving at Old Trafford in 2022.
In fresh remarks relayed by iDiski Times, McCarthy insists that he is ready for a fresh challenge that will see him come up against some of the individuals he faced during his playing days.
He revealed, “That is a dream too, to one day you get to a stage where you are up against your former peers that you used to play against now. Because it’s Robin van Persie that’s starting to be a manager. Xabi Alonso is already flying where he’s coaching at Bayer Leverkusen.”
“Steven Gerrard is doing his thing in Saudi, and then you’ve got Frank Lampard, obviously, he’s been not so successful, but he’s also managing, you’ve got Wayne Rooney, so it’s that generation, my generation, that’s the next coaches for the next 10, 15 years, until the generation after us will come and take over from us, you know? So this is now the stage for us to flourish.”
“Yes, of course, that is my hope that I get the opportunity, then I get the opportunity to manage again, my team against a Xabi Alonso team or a Steven Gerrard, and the likes and so forth.”
United already bid farewell to another key member of Ten Hag’s staff just a few weeks ago- Eric Ramsay.
Ramsay left the club to take up a role as permanent head coach of Major League Soccer outfit Minnesota United.
The 32-year-old joined United in 2021 as a player development and set-piece coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Solskjaer and then interim gaffer Ralf Rangnick before his involvement increased under Ten Hag.
Ramsay’s United exit came as soon as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 27.7% partial investment was officially announced.
He spoke to The Athletic and opened up on a number of topics including his time with the Red Devils and INEOS’ plans for the future.
Ramsay told the newspaper, “I think I’ve had enough breadth of experience and now enough depth of experience. I’ve spent enough time at the top level to know how players respond to me. I’ve also been in a position where I’ve watched a couple of managers do what I’m doing at the moment.”
“I’ve had the benefit of being a step removed from being the person in the front and making decisions, but I’ve done it across two managers at Man United, as well as having worked with Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) at the beginning. I’ve been at Chelsea working with the under-23 years whilst seeing the changeover between Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel. I’ve sort of been privileged, in the sense that I’ve had a front-row seat, or a second-row seat in some cases, to this type of situation — all while I’ve been on the grass working with top players and top young players.”
When asked whether he regrets prematurely ending his United tenure, Ramsay replied, “I’m not without a tinge of — regret is the wrong word — but I’m leaving at a point at which things will really move with INEOS and the way in which they want to take the club. I felt like a lot of what they talked about and have talked about in the media really resonated with me as a coach, and I felt like I would have probably had a really good relationship with those guys.”
“That club is a really special club. It’s a club that hopefully hits the heights that everything says it could and should in the coming years and INEOS can really move it forward. I’ve really got nothing but happy memories of being there.”
“As much as there were some difficult times, I think from a coaching perspective: the intensity of it, the richness of being a part of Man United, is something that you just will not grasp until you’re sort of on the inside and you can feel how it feels to be there. I think as a sort of formative experience for me, it was incredible. I don’t think I could have had it better.”
The Welshman only had positive things to say about Ten Hag and his ex-colleagues.
According to Ramsay, he thoroughly enjoyed working with the Dutchman and he learned a great deal from him. He also thanked the “phenomenal” 54-year-old for giving him great opportunities and teaching him how to successfully run a team.
On why the 20-time English champions have dramatically declined from last term, Ramsay divulged to The Athletic that there have been “some extenuating circumstances” that have hindered the team from succeeding such as injuries and key players not being available for selection.
He however noted that despite all these difficulties, United are still firmly within a shout of finishing within the Champions League places.
Ramsay expressed hope that Ten Hag will be affored the time to clean up the mess at United and restore the club to its past glories.
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