Former South African hitman and Porto’s first-choice striker under Jose Mourinho, Benni McCarthy, has described his former boss as the “perfect man” to help Manchester United compete with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City next season.
The BBC reports that the ex-Chelsea boss, Mourinho is in talks to replace Louis van Gaal as United manager this summer.
According to MacCarthy, “Mourinho is one of those people who knows how to beat Guardiola’s tactics,” he told BBC Sport.
“When he was at Real Madrid, he beat him a couple of times. At Inter Milan, he also had success against him.
“At the moment, I can’t see anyone taking on Pep and his tactics at Manchester City.
“But Mourinho at United, he would have the resources, the players and the financial backing to beat Guardiola.”
Mourinho’s second spell as Chelsea boss ended in December, when he was shown the exit door after losing nine of the season’s first 16 league games.
His departure came just seven months after he had won his third Premier League title with the Blues, the first two of which came during his first spell at the club, from 2004-2007.
But McCarthy, who won consecutive Portuguese titles as well as the Champions League at Porto, said opinion of some that his former boss is “damaged goods” are “majorly unfair”.
He added: “Everywhere he has gone, he has the fans.”
“The media, the people don’t know what went on behind closed doors at Chelsea and what caused the problems they had when he was in charge. I certainly don’t think that experience makes him a bad manager”.
“The problems he has had of late seem to be due to personality clashes. When you want more from your players and they think they can’t give you more, it results in a clash and players don’t play to the best of their ability.”
McCarthy stated that Mourinho’s man-management skills were “unbelievable.”
He added: “Manchester United have a lot of young players who want to achieve things and make names for themselves. He would come in and be the perfect man for the job.
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