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MANCHESTER. — Among the usual chants echoing round Old Trafford on Sunday, fans of Manchester United could be heard singing the name of Benni McCarthy.
It is rare for a member of a club’s backroom staff to be celebrated like this, but McCarthy is not your average coach.
The 45-year-old South African has been widely credited with helping to revitalise Marcus Rashford’s career since joining Erik ten Hag’s staff last summer.
Rashford might be the man grabbing the headlines, but behind the scenes, McCarthy has been crucial to his Manchester United renaissance.
Last season the academy graduate was a shadow of his former self with confidence and form deserting him. Now he’s emerged as Europe’s most potent striker, with his goals keeping forcing his side into the English Premier League title hunt.
McCarthy’s work behind the scenes with Rashford at Manchester United has been so impressive that it prompted Jadon Sancho to request one-on-one sessions with him.
United sources stress that McCarthy is just one of a number of key figures in Team Ten Hag, but the former Blackburn and West Ham striker was brought in specifically to improve the forwards and there is no doubt that he has been one of the factors in Rashford’s sensational form.
The 25-year-old’s brace against Leicester on Sunday took his total for the season to a career-best 24 goals, including 16 in his last 17 games.
One-on-one sessions with McCarthy have helped turn Rashford into a more confident, direct striker and also improved his heading, which resulted in emphatic finishes against Leeds and West Ham.
“He’s definitely helped me a lot,” said the England international in November. “To have attack-minded coaches is good for us. He’s always there speaking to us about these things.”
Jadon Sancho, United’s other scorer on Sunday, asked to work one-on-one with McCarthy after spending some time away from the club over New Year, and Anthony Martial also values the advice of the coach.
Explaining the decision to bring in McCarthy, Ten Hag said last month: ”In our coaching staff, we had a lot of defenders and midfield players. I wanted to find a good balance. He is offensive-minded as he is a former striker, and that is also a really specific task in the team.
“I never played there, so I’m lucky to have someone on my staff who did. Football is about scoring. You have a goalkeeping specialist, but you also have offensive specialists and, in particular, we have a specific scoring coach.”
McCarthy also speaks four languages — English, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese — which helps him communicate with all the United players. It is one benefit of a well-travelled playing career that began in his native Cape Town and took McCarthy to Ajax, Celta Vigo and then Porto, where his two goals helped to knock United out of the Champions League in 2004 as Jose Mourinho’s side went on to conquer Europe. — Mailonline
Online Reporter