ERIK ten Hag has launched a defiant defence of his team after comments from former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy.
McCarthy, who worked as an assistant under Ten Hag at United, slammed the Dutchman for “lacking passion” and “wasting Cristiano Ronaldo” in a recent interview.
Ten Hag is under mounting pressure at Old Trafford after a poor start to the season that has been compounded by back-to-back home thrashings in the league to Liverpool and Spurs.
And prior to Man Utd’s Europa League clash with Porto on Thursday night, the manager was quizzed on McCarthy’s scathing assessment.
Ten Hag wasn’t having any of the criticism and, as he has done plenty of times before, pointed to his trophy cabinet since his arrival at the Theatre of Dreams.
He said: “I don’t know what he means. When you win trophies, you can’t do this without passion and desire.”
Ten Hag has one two trophies in as many seasons at Man Utd, lifting the League Cup in his first year and guiding the side to FA Cup glory last term.
United fans are beginning to lose patience with a reliance on domestic cup competitions after the club’s league form has failed to impress.
So far this season Man Utd have lost three of their six Premier League clashes – that’s the same number of league defeats amassed by champions Man City in the entirety of the previous campaign.
And as pressure continues to mount, Ten Hag could be put under the microscope when his side travel to Villa Park this weekend.
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Man Utd take on Aston Villa on Sunday, hoping to bounce back from their 3-0 trashing to Spurs last weekend.
And according to The Athletic, club chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is planning on making the trip to Birmingham to watch the game.
Ratcliffe is the key decision maker at United and it will ultimately be him who decides if Ten Hag’s time at the helm will come to an end amid the club’s poor form.
His time could come to an end soon as speculation continues to swirl about his sacking with comments such as Benni McCarthy’s doing the rounds.
The ex-Blackburn and West Ham striker, 46, spent two years as Ten Hag’s assistant before he left in the summer.
And after being replaced by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake in the dugout, McCarthy didn’t pull any punches in his assessment of Ten Hag’s management.
Speaking to Zero Zero, he said: “He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion. That’s where we differ, him and I.
“I think that was one of the difficulties that the team and the players encountered.”
While he added: “Before I joined the team, I always had to communicate my thoughts to the head coach, which is normal.
“For someone like me, with strong convictions, it’s not easy. Erik always had the final say.”
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