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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Jürgen Klopp reveals the main reason he turned down the Manchester United job
Danny Jones
Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has revealed one of the main reasons he turned down the Manchester United job more than a decade ago.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund boss turned Merseyside hero spent nine years at Anfield, going on to win a Champions League, Premier League, and a collection of cups.
It’s also worth noting that this all came in the years following the departure of legendary Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but there could have been an alternate reality where Klopp carried on where ‘Fergie’ left off, as the now 58-year-old says the club spoke to him during that time.
With Sir Alex leaving in 2013 after the best part of 30 years, Klopp told Steven Bartlett on his most recent Diary of A CEO episode that “of course, they were interested.”
OUT NOW!
💥Jürgen Klopp on The Diary Of A CEO
Some of the topics we cover:
•His surprise at Liverpool’s £450m transfer window and why he didn’t get the same money
•He says a return to Liverpool is possible – but he couldn’t ask for just one year off
Admitting that the interest was mutual “at one point”, the prospect of joining Liverpool‘s historic rivals clearly appealed to him.
Noting that he was flourishing as an up-and-coming coach (aged 46 back then) in charge of an impressive Dortmund team – adding that even some of his then future players to be at Liverpool flew to watch them play in the Champions League – it’s clear he had plenty of suitors.
However, the retired German footballer turned ‘Gegenpressing’ tactician goes on to explain that despite United trying to poach him from the Bundesliga, it was “the wrong time, wrong moment for me.”
Crucially, he says that some aspects of the conversations between him and the club at the time proved to be a turn-off rather than an incentive, citing talk of ‘the biggest club in the world’ and supposedly “signing any player we want.”
In short, Klopp says that, crucially, it didn’t sound like it would have been his project, drawing parallels to the board wanting to bring back players like Paul Pogba, with arguably similar ‘mistakes’ being made with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo. In his eyes, looking backwards simply “never helps”.
You can see the clip in full here:
Had he not turned down the offer, do you think Klopp could have helped rebuild Man United?
According to Klopp, after negotiations seemed to revolve primarily around the kind of players they were going to bring in, he decided the opportunity wasn’t for him.
Nevertheless, it looked like things worked out for Merseyside’s biggest club, at least, as he went on to become one of the most successful managers in the Premier League, managing to break up the long period of dominance overseen by both Manchester United and, most recently, Man City.
As for the red half of Manchester, they at the very least had a good weekend as they finally ended their long wait for a win away against Liverpool.
In case you missed it, you can watch the highlights – including another big clutch goal from Harry Maguire – down below.
A 5k charity event where runners dress up as Pitbull is coming to Manchester city centre
Danny Jones
Yep, you read it right the first time – a regular 5k charity run returns to Manchester this month, only this time, those taking part will be dressed up as Pitbull for some reason…
Don’t ask us, we just thought it was funny and it’s for a good cause, so why the hell not?
For a little context, this is the latest idea from Slow Run Club: a local running organisation that takes place weekly at three different locations across Greater Manchester.
We know ‘Mr Worldwide’ himself has been and gone, having played a couple of nights in Manchester earlier this year, but these lot have decided two nights of yelling ‘Timberrrr’ still wasn’t quite enough and asking those joining the October fundraising 5k to dress up like the one and only Pitbull.
In case you missed it when ‘Dale’ fever took over the city streets this past summer, bald caps, sunglasses, black felt goatees and drawn-on moustaches descended upon central Manchester as they have been all over the UK and beyond for his live shows.
Was it utterly daft? Yes. Was it still one of THE best gig crowds we’ve seen in yonks? Absolutely.
The 44-year-old Floridian rapper and resurgent pop star played multiple nights at the Co-op Live, and they were brilliant, but we’re not going to pretend that the best wasn’t seeing the sea of shiny bald heads and shades in suits and ties.
It’s rare that you see such a shared moment of abandoning inhibitions and embracing the silliness; it was genuinely so great to see, and it’s that same energy that these guys are trying to tap into. Put simply, it’s about letting go and dancing like no one’s watching.
Teaming up with fellow charity-focused running group, Run The Streets MCR, Slow Run Club (SRC)’s Pitbull fancy-dress-themed run is just the latest in a growing trend of alternative ways to get some exercise in.
After you’ve gone all ‘305’ at the Pitbull run, these Manchester runners are worth looking into as well.
Having done everything from the regular fancy dress Halloween runs to Oasis, Sabrina Carpenter, ABBA-themed runs, and many more, you’d be surprised how much you don’t care about what people think when you’re running around and dancing to tunes – especially when it’s for charity.
Once again, the Slow Run Club x Run The Streets MCR ‘Pitbull Edition’ 5k charity run takes place this month on Wednesday, 22 October, from 6:30pm onwards outside The Tap House on Circle Square, just off the Oxford Road Corridor, before setting off at a laid-back social pace.
This is the same place and time you’ll find SRC’s city centre regular meet-up every week; speaking to The Manc, founder Holly Spiers said: “We run from The Taphouse every Wednesday (just not usually dressed as Pitbull) and offer an inclusive pace as well as rest stops.”
Speaking of fancy dress, if you haven’t seen the group of four mates who made history at the 2025 Manchester Half, stop what you’re doing and read this:
These legends set an incredibly fun, wholesome and amusing world record at this year's @ManchesterHalf – all whilst raising money for @andysmanclubuk. 👏
Danny Jones -
4th March 2023 
