Manchester United finally picked up their first piece of silverware in over half a decade with their League Cup win last month and, more importantly, both the players and the fans seem much happier with how the club is performing as one of the most in-form teams in Europe right now.
Moreover, while most Reds are understandably quick to assign most of the credit to Erik ten Hag who has revolutionised the playstyle and overall culture around the club, it’s becoming more and more evident that another figure among the backroom staff has also had a significant impact: Benni McCarthy.
Explaining his role on the club’s website, ten Hag said that his objective is pretty clear: he is the “scoring trainer… He is offensive [minded] as he is a former striker and that is also a really specific job task in the team.” And so far, it not only seems like he’s fulfilling that role but people are starting to take notice.
Recognising that he himself never played up front, the Dutchman said he feels “lucky to have someone in [his] staff who played there” and an individual to add balance throughout the coaching staff.
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Ultimately, “Football is about scoring”, says ten Hag, but he noted that McCarthy has also been tasked with “working on the togetherness and he is doing a great job on that.” In fact, the Mail reported that the 45-year-old has become a “larger-than-life character” and immensely popular with the players.”
You only have to hear it from the boys themselves; Anthony Martial said that the South African gives “a lot of advice… both on and off the training ground”, and as for current star man Marcus Rashford, he remarked: “He’s definitely helped me a lot… to have them attack-minded coaches is good for us in the squad, he’s always there speaking to us about these things.”
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McCarthy might not be keen to take the credit — insisting in a recent video that he “didn’t have to do anything” as Rashford “already had everything” in his locker to hit his current heights — but even the fans are now gathering outside Old Trafford to grab his autograph and thank him for his work.
❤️ “Thanks for what you’re doing with this team.”
🇿🇦 Benni McCarthy: “Thank you, that’s the manager, it’s the manager.”
Part of having Rashford “in the right place” has clearly been about not only helping him regain the confidence to get back to what he does best, but McCarthy is also widely reported to have put the 25-year-old through regular one-on-one heading sessions to improve his aerial game.
Furthermore, the stats seem to suggest that these drills are working, as not only has he already surpassed his best-ever tally for goals in a season (now on 25 in all competitions) but, more specifically, he has always scored more headers (4) this season than any other in his career.
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And it isn’t just Rashford, of course; Antony looks to be gradually simplifying his game too. It feels unlikely he’d be able to score that curled finish he favours so much on the volley against Barcelona without first wanting to take a touch had McCarthy goalscoring advice’s not been there.
The same can be argued for Alejandro Garnacho as well, who has become seriously direct and clinical in the past few months, especially at such a young age. Again, wide forward or not, he’s playing with a striker’s instinct and not trying to overcomplicate things — he’s listening to his coaches and seeing the results.
When it comes to cases like Weghorst, it’s already been widely publicised that he was brought in more for his pressing stats and work rate than his goalscoring record, but the big man has still shown the ability to play as a false nine, holding the ball up and allowing others to run off him into dangerous areas.
Once again, it’s hard to say how much McCarthy has played a part in all that but the signs seem to point towards his impact reaching far beyond Rashford. In the same report by the Mail, it also said that Jadon Sancho made it clear he also wanted personal time with the striking coach after his own private training programme and look how well he has returned to the squad.
As a lifelong United fan, Benni McCarthy’s connection with the club looked to have been almost immediate; he is even said to have not even asked about his salary before accepting the job — he just wanted to take the opportunity, even despite the reaction from some supporters around the time of his appointment.
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There have been a lot of important signings that have helped transform Manchester United since Erik ten Hag arrived, but there is a very strong case to be made that Benni McCarthy is among the best of them.
Featured Image — Manchester United/Marcus Rashford (via Twitter)
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‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
Danny Jones -
4th March 2023 
