Ten Hag responds to McCarthy’s claims of lacking ‘fire and passion

Erik ten Hag has come out firing after his former coach Benni McCarthy became the latest footballing figure to issue a brutal criticism of the beleagured Manchester United manager.

The Dutchman seems to be on borrowed time at Old Trafford after a humiliating 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday continued a disastrous start to the season which sees the Red Devils languishing in 12th after six matches. On Thursday, they rescued a point against Porto thanks to a last-minute equaliser from Harry Maguire.

United are reportedly standing by the under-fire boss but in the aftermath of the Spurs debacle legends of the club, including Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand, spoke out to give scathing criticisms of the 54-year-old.

Earlier this week, former assistant McCarthy joined the bandwagon claiming Ten Hag 'lacks a bit of that fire, that passion' in an astonishing assessment of the manager.

Ahead of United's dramatic 3-3 draw with Porto, the Dutch boss hit back at his ex-colleague and stoically defended his record at the club in an interview with TNT Sports.

He said: 'I don't know what he means. When you win trophies, you can't do this without passion and desire.'

McCarthy was asked by Portuguese publication ZEROZERO this week why United have struggled to be more competitive in games. The 46-year-old's response was telling.

'In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach,' McCarthy said.

'They need to feel that the coach is with them and willing to fight alongside them.

'Tactically, I feel that Erik is at the top. He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion.

'That's where we differ, him and I.'

McCarthy was also critical of the players' application during training throughout his time at United.

The South African did single out two players for praise and felt if the rest of the squad trained as hard as they did, results may have been better.

'If some of the Manchester United players had what Bruno (Fernandes) and Diogo (Dalot) have, it would have been easier to achieve good results,' McCarthy said.

'They both trained with incredible concentration, giving everything they had. Some of the others didn't do the same.

'This ended up limiting United's progress, because some players weren't training to the best of their ability. Even in games, the data showed us that some players were at their peak performance and others a little below.'

Should United opt to sack Ten Hag, it could reportedly cost them £17.5million, as per Goal, as the club handed the Dutchman a contract extension in the summer after he survived an internal review.

Former Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi has been mooted as a potential replacement while ex-England boss Gareth Southgate continues to be linked with the post.