Erik ten Hag’s former Man Utd assistant slams Dutchman for ‘lacking fire’ and ‘wasting’ Cristiano Ronaldo

ERIK TEN HAG'S former assistant Benni McCarthy has claimed the Dutchman lacks "passion", "wasted Cristiano Ronaldo", and admits "it's not easy" under his leadership.

The Red Devils boss, 54, is under huge pressure following Manchester United's humilating 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The result leaves the Red Devils 13th in the Premier League and without a win in three matches in all competitions.

Ex-Blackburn and West Ham striker McCarthy, 46, spent two years as Ten Hag's assistant before he left in the summer.

However, he has pulled no punches in his assessment of the former Ajax head coach's personality.

Speaking to , he said: "He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion. That's where we differ, him and I.

"I think that was one of the difficulties that the team and the players encountered."

While he added: "Before I joined the team, I always had to communicate my thoughts to the head coach, which is normal.

"For someone like me, with strong convictions, it’s not easy. Erik always had the final say."

McCarthy also spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo's broken relationship with Ten Hag.

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The Portugal legend re-joined Man Utd in 2021 but left less than 18 months later following a fall-out with Ten Hag.

There is no love lost between the pair as Ronaldo recently took aim at Ten Hag's lack of ambition.

The Red Devils head coach hit back by saying Ronaldo is "far away in Saudi".

Yet McCarthy feels the situation could have been handled better by Ten Hag.

He said: "If we work as a team and then let Cristiano do what he needs to do in his position, because he is the best in the world at it, that is ideal.

"I think Manchester United wasted a great opportunity to use Cristiano in the right way. But I was not the head coach and I could not be the one to make those decisions."

McCarthy also took the time to reveal the standout players he worked with in the Man Utd squad.

He had already named Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, before he went on to list four more stars - Lisandro Martinez, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo.

He said: "Lisandro Martinez. He has the passion, the fighting spirit, the personality. He can play for any team in the world because he has the right mentality.

"Besides Lisandro… Marcus Rashford. He’s getting back to his best and could hurt FC Porto with some moves.

"Finally, Alejandro Garnacho. I really like Garnacho, but he needs to play more regularly. I don’t know if there’s a problem between him and Erik, but he hasn’t been a regular starter.

"Oh, and just one more: Amad Diallo. An incredible, incredible player, still little known. He defends and attacks well, always makes the best decisions and knows how to score goals."