Benni McCarthy: New Manchester United role will 'inspire kids back home'
- Published
Benni McCarthy was on the touchline as Manchester United played Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday
As a boyhood Manchester United fan, Benni McCarthy may not have fulfilled his dream of playing for his favourite club but he has now managed to secure a coaching job with the record 20-time English champions.
The former striker has been recruited by new manager Erik ten Hag to join his first team coaching staff in a move that has sent South African social media users into a spin.
The appointment of the 44-year-old has been hailed as "massive" by McCarthy's former international team-mate Quinton Fortune, who himself played for United between 1999 and 2006.
"This will be an out-of-this-world experience for Benni," Fortune told BBC Sport Africa.
"This is so good because it will inspire the kids back home who can see one of their own now being part of the coaching staff at a club as big as Manchester United, who have a huge following in South Africa and across the world.
"It's a great move by the manager because Benni can speak Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish."
McCarthy had playing spells in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, scoring 37 goals in 120 outings between 2006 and 2010, and has since coached in Belgium and managed in his homeland.
Ten Hag was on the look-out for one more recruit to his backroom staff ahead of his first season with the Red Devils, and felt the former Ajax and Porto man had the right credentials for the job.
"There was still one place I wanted to fill, someone with a different voice, and Benni is that one," the Dutchman told MUTV.
"He has experience as a manager. He was a coach in the professional level and he was a former striker, a really successful striker as well."
Initial reports indicated that McCarthy had been brought in to work with the team's attackers but Ten Hag envisages a bigger role for the South African.
"He will focus on the positioning and attacking," he added.
"I'm not saying only the strikers, but also the integration from the full-backs and midfielders. Our way of play has to be dynamic."
Experience of winning in Europe
McCarthy was a Champions League winner with Porto in 2003-04
South Africa's all-time leading scorer with 31 goals in 80 appearances, McCarthy will now be part of United's reinvention under former Ajax boss Ten Hag.
The former Bafana Bafana star scored twice at Old Trafford for Porto in the 2003-04 Champions League knockout stages as the Portuguese club, managed by Jose Mourinho, went on to win the competition., external
McCarthy became the first and only South African to claim a Champions League winner's medal.
"I support Man United and always wanted to play for them," he once said. "I loved players like Mark Hughes, Andy Cole and Ryan Giggs."
Fortune first heard about McCarthy's possible move to his former club two weeks ago.
"The kit guy told me Benni was around. I was surprised and I immediately called Benni to ask 'What's going on?'," he said.
"He said he took a training session and I'm sure the manager wanted to have a look at him. Ten Hag obviously liked what he saw."
Fortune, who was a coach at English Championship side Reading for just over two years before his departure in February, says McCarthy offers a wide range of experience to United.
"If you look at what Benni has achieved in the game - a Champions League winner, league winner in Holland and Portugal, golden boot winner at the 1998 Nations Cup and in Portugal, together with his coaching qualifications, his appointment is a no-brainer," the 45-year-old said.
"I thought if Benni was going to be working only with the strikers, it was huge - but for me, it's even bigger now that I've heard he will also be working with the midfielders and strikers."
Success - and support - in South Africa
Since his appointment, South Africa's top coaches like Pitso Mosimane and Gavin Hunt, who have won nine Premier Soccer League (PSL) titles between them, congratulated McCarthy on his new job.
Former Everton star Steven Pienaar, who is now working as assistant coach with Ajax's Under-18 team, also tweeted: "Congrats broer [brother], so proud of you."
Fortune is hopeful that McCarthy will open doors for other African coaches in Europe.
"It's not only good for Benni but also for African coaches to show what's possible," he said.
McCarthy, who obtained his Uefa Pro licence coaching badge - the highest in the game, in November 2018, had a highly successful coaching career in South Africa.
After a six-month stint with Belgian side Sint-Truiden as assistant to fellow South African Chris O' Loughlin between September 2015 and April 2016, he was recruited by Cape Town City to take over from former Bafana Bafana team-mate Eric Tinkler in June 2017.
During the 18 months he spent with the Citizens, he guided the team to a creditable fifth place in the league in his first season and delivered the MTN8 knockout trophy in the next with his home town club.
McCarthy performed even better in his second job in South Africa taking AmaZulu, a club that had been relegated four times from the PSL, to an unprecedented runner's-up spot in the league at the end of the 2020-21 season, booking a first ever spot in the African Champions League.
He capped a stellar campaign by winning the PSL Coach of the Season award but after guiding the team to a place in the group stages of the competition, their form on the domestic scene suffered, resulting in his departure from the club in March.
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