Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy says Red Devils can qualify for Champions League this season

By Zayn Nabbi, CNN

(CNN) — Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy says the Red Devils can finish in the top four this season, but are still behind the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool in the English Premier League (EPL) title race.

McCarthy joined the coaching staff in 2022 and worked with the strikers as part of a technical team that finished third in the Premier League and secured the League Cup in 2023 and won the FA Cup in 2024.

But in the league last season, United languished in eighth position, the club’s worst ever finish in the Premier League era and nowhere near the qualification spots for the lucrative Champions League.

Since McCarthy left ahead of the new season, United has lost two of its first three league games.

Speaking to CNN Sport, though, McCarthy remained optimistic about the Red Devils and stressed that opponents may regret overlooking the 13-time Premier League winners.

“I think if [Manchester United] can take their cup form into the league to win on a consistent basis, I think they’ll find themselves there or there about,” the former Porto and Blackburn Rovers star says.

“Maybe not title contenders yet, but I definitely think (closer) to getting themselves into the top four again for Champions League football definitely. They’ve got the squad of players to do so.”

While holding hope for his former employer, McCarthy saved notable praise for City boss Pep Guardiola, who has guided United’s fiercest rivals to a record four consecutive league titles.

City has enjoyed a perfect start to the new season, and McCarthy predicts it could be another successful year for the blue side of Manchester.

“Under Pep Guardiola’s leadership, I think the structure that the club has is perfect,” the former Porto and Blackburn Rovers striker says.

“The players play for him and they know exactly what to do and there’s no disruption. So of course, Man City has to be everyone’s favorite.”

For the past two seasons, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal has finished as runner-up, and McCarthy says that the North London club “can challenge City for the league” alongside Manchester United’s arch-rival Liverpool, who are in a transition period after Jürgen Klopp departed Anfield over the summer.

“Under Mikel Arteta, the players are rallying and they are doing something really good there. And it’s just a matter of time until I think they’re going to have the end product to go all the way,” McCarthy says.

“Liverpool under (Arne) Slot looks really good. Looks like Klopp’s never left. It’s just they’ve got an element of a new lease of life when they go forward, they seem to be finding the right ways to break teams down and not being wasteful as in past times where they did let teams off the hook by wasting so many opportunities in games.

“I know we are only three games into the season, but Liverpool has looked exciting. They look like whichever team they come up against, they’re going to be scoring lots of goals.”

Coaching ambitions

McCarthy is now seeking his next coaching challenge after leaving Old Trafford at the conclusion of last season, and the former South African captain is looking to work back in Africa or across the pond in the MLS.

“I think that the passion for wanting to be a head coach again brewed through. And I think that is the next step for me,” he says.

The 46-year-old, who previously coached Cape Town City to a domestic cup success in South Africa and guided an unheralded AmaZulu outfit to second in the Premier Soccer League, is now keen to take one of African giants to glory at the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup.

“With the knowledge that I’ve gained, it would be amazing to manage a team on the continent and then try to make them […] reach a final when you play in the Club World Cup,” he adds.

“That would be the aim to do that or even the MLS, that interests me a lot. Opportunities like that I would welcome because I think I’ve got what it takes to manage that and make players better and to help teams achieve goals that they’ve maybe not achieved in the last few years with the clubs. It’s just about getting the opportunity.”

In the long term, McCarthy would also love to coach the South Africa national team. At this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Bafana Bafana brought home the bronze medal under coach Hugo Broos, but recently the team struggled to beat South Sudan 3-2 and drew 2-2 with Uganda in the AFCON qualifiers.

“If given the opportunity, I think I can do a sterling job,” South Africa’s record goalscorer says.

“I would bleed for my country because it’s the country I was born in, so I would feel it as much as every single South African […] when you don’t qualify for World Cups.

“I would feel their pain with them. So, for me, to want to succeed so that I can bring joy to the hearts of these people would be the biggest thing that you can get.

“It’s the highest honor from my point of view to manage your country, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

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