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Steve McLaren is explaining the difference between being Sir Alex Ferguson's deputy at the turn of the millennium and assisting Eric Ten Hag almost a quarter of a century later.
He claimed that the players in 2022 will question the Manchester United coach's decisions more carefully than they did in 1999.
The first question they asked was to ask that person if he could help us win the game. That's how it is. It's not about being my friend, it's not about doing this, it's not about doing that. The key is, can you lead me to achieve the goal of winning? Whenever you don't achieve that, they're going to look at you and think, well, why on earth are we doing this? At the moment, perhaps there is no longer any natural respect for the coach. The game has changed, he said.
In this interview, McLaren will continue to talk about, firstly, how Bruno Fernandez entered the ranks of the five best players he has ever coached; secondly, how Kobe Menu improved his game; thirdly, Casemiro's professionalism after seemingly destined to leave the team; fourthly, why Harry Maguire should participate in the World Cup; fifthly, Diogo Dalot's performance in 0 – 4. The motivational effect after the tragic defeat to Crystal Palace-McLaren said that after that defeat, the team and staff "should have walked home."
McClaren, 64, has a wealth of experience to draw from. He played in three England tournaments as assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson but failed to reach Euro 2008 as manager. He won the League Cup and reached the UEFA Cup final at Middlesbrough, led Twente to the only Dutch title in the club's 60-year history, and most recently coached the Jamaican national team.
Under Ferguson, he coached Manchester United for a brilliant two-and-a-half years, a period that began with winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble and ended with the third of three consecutive league titles.
After 21 years, McClaren returned to United as a key figure in ten Hag's coaching staff, lifting the League Cup and FA Cup, and played a role in a memorable victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium, but there was also turmoil, starting with friction with Cristiano Ronaldo.
"McLaren said Eric was trying to impose his own style, so he was competing with Ronaldo the whole time," McLaren said. "McLaren made it clear to Eric early on, 'It's either you or him'".
Ronaldo is generally pretty good, but he is unwilling to complete the work required by Eric, or he thinks he can't do it. His instructions when off the ball are, "Get into the center. Once you retreat, you become the first line of defense, and then you have to make a second pressing run, and even occasionally have to make three runs."
I used to tell Ronnie, "If you want to play, this is how you do it." He would say, "Oh, no one wants to press." And I would say, "Well, they are both young lads, they can press."
The offense has eleven players and the defense has eleven players and that's right. It’s not that the offense has eleven players, but the defense only has ten. So I say, it's that simple, Ronnie, you have to run. If you don't run, you can't play.
Maybe other managers have tried to accommodate him and accommodate him in order to get the best out of him, and that balance is critical. You might see half the players thinking, "We think Ronnie is right," and the other half thinking, "We think Eric is right."
Well, if it's Ferguson, either he's right, or you have to get out of here. If you don't get along with him and he knows it, then you have to leave. This is the authority and power he has built up over the years.
You know, if you look at it now, you see, the situations we first encountered with Eric were exactly the same situations when Ferguson was in the past. He would always tell me stories about his battles with players on the team who liked to drink. Ferguson said, "Steve, I compete with them every day in terms of resourcefulness and courage." I told him, "I sincerely hope to be your assistant at that time." I don't think I could make it through, but I would absolutely love the experience. Because those players have extremely distinctive personalities.
The boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, had time to devote to solving those problems. Eric, however, did not get the same amount of time. To a certain extent, I can actually understand Ten Hag's dismissal. However, in some specific aspects, I am in a state of inability to understand it. The reason is that he won the League Cup and the FA Cup.
In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2022, Ronaldo said this when talking about the kind of high-pressing football that some Manchester United coaches longed for: "To be honest, this is something I don't understand at all. These new coaches who are coming here now feel like they have discovered the last bottle of Coca-Cola in the desert. I really can't understand it."
While I respect every coach regardless of their different approaches or different mindsets, there are certain aspects that you really have a hard time getting me to agree with, and that's been the case my entire life.
McClaren's chat over coffee at a Starbucks in the Skelton Lakes service area in Leeds is a far cry from the frenetic atmosphere when we last met in November, deep inside the Jamaica National Stadium in Kingston, before McClaren resigned as head coach of the country's national team.
The game between Jamaica and Curacao ended in a 0-0 draw, and as a result, Jamaica missed the opportunity to directly qualify for the World Cup. This made the 35,000 fans extremely anxious and anxious to the extreme. Some of them even tried to rush into the locker room to confront McClaren and the players.
Now, McLaren says of the system in Jamaica that it is not well organized and it is too late to actually get anything done, so there is more of a sense of frustration in this area.
He added while pointing to his ankle, and the pain I have in this place is so severe that I must cure it. Injuries have limited his ability to coach on the turf, where his inner passion resides. He said that my ankle is now healed, so I feel much better.
Step into Steve McClaren's journey as manager in Jamaica, with its dashed World Cup dreams, staff's advance on flights and a bitter ending. The former England coach suffered setbacks in Jamaica, but failing to qualify for the World Cup is only part of his story with the Reggae Boyz.
In March this year, Jamaica was led by interim head coach Rudolf Spade. In the play-off final, Jamaica lost to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jamaica's second attempt at the World Cup failed and ended in failure.
At the same time, McLaren entered the three-person candidate list for the Ghana national team coach vacancy. It would have been one of the more compelling storylines had McLaren faced Thomas Tuchel's England in their second match of World Cup Group L in Foxborough, Massachusetts. But Ghana ultimately chose Carlos Queiroz, who coincidentally also has his own Manchester United resume, having served as Ferguson's assistant in 2002.
Queiroz, 73, is the latest old-school coach to emerge, giving McClaren some encouragement to believe he can become a coach again.
Watching what's going on with Roy Hodgson (78 when he was interim manager at Bristol City), watching what's going on with Martin O'Neill (74 at Celtic), watching what's going on with Dick Advocaat (managing Curaçao before the 78-year-old resigned in February), I can't help but think to myself, 'Oh my God'. However, once a certain age is exceeded, no one will entertain the thought of "giving him a job." The current coaches are all young talents, isn't it? But now that my ankle has recovered, I still have the energy to coach a club or the national team again," he said.
Going to the studio is not very attractive to him. "Well, I'm not a commentator. I don't object to recording podcasts occasionally. It's quite interesting, but I just want to discuss tactics and the direction of the game. I still love all of this."
His recent involvement in a TV show about England's "golden generation" sparked a conversation with former midfielder Owen Hargreaves.
For that time, there was never a way to solve the problems that arose when Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Paul Scholes coexisted. You had to make a choice, which one to take away. Owen (Hargreaves) could have been allowed to play the position called the '6th position', which is the defensive midfielder position. But recently, Owen said to me, 'Steve, even if it were me, I would not put myself ahead of them in the order.'
While speaking on The Good, The Bad and Football podcast with Scholes, McLaren heard about the rifts within the national team ranks in the past. "I thought the players got along pretty well at the time," he recalled. "Then Scholes said something. Wow, is that really true? I didn't even realize it at the time." He did recall a meeting with Ferguson during his time at Middlesbrough, which related to issues between club and country. "Before an international break, United were playing Middlesbrough at Old Trafford. I thought to myself, 'I'll go say hi'. I knocked on his office door." At that time, I was the manager of Middlesbrough and at the same time, I was also the assistant to Sven (England manager). "Hi, boss." All the England internationals who were Manchester United players were sitting there. He simply said, "Don't go into it with any hope of taking any of these boys away." He did so in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but actually lectured them.
McLaren can also detect other changes during his time in football. He said: "Today's football is becoming more and more rigid like a machine." He added: "We are gradually losing the agility of the No. 10 player, the player who has innovative ability and excellent control of the overall situation, just like what you call Bruno (Fernandez). I recently went to watch the Manchester City game, Narayan Cherki (note: maybe in the game against Manchester City) is just incredible. He can do things that make you say, 'Oh my God.'
McLaren has coached several Manchester United legends, and he speaks highly of Fernandez. He said, "I remember his first game at Old Trafford, he was playing long balls and moving the ball diagonally. I thought to myself, 'This is the key piece we are missing'. He wants to do everything. He is definitely one of the top five players I have ever coached," he said.
He possesses an extremely broad vision and an indescribable talent. When I was training, I saw some operations that would make you say, "Wow" involuntarily. His attitude and professionalism are top notch. He was the first to come to start training, but the last to leave. He is the last one to leave the court, and he also practices shooting. He practices throughout the day just to improve. His character is very good. It's just that sometimes, I get a little emotional.
There was only one conflict, because he didn't applaud the fans, and we had a fight about it. I remember it was at Old Trafford, when Newcastle won 3-0, which was the League Cup in November 2023. At that time, I was more angry with the team and the players. It was a bad situation, but we made up the next day. 99% of the time, he is very good to the fans.
McLaren is of the opinion that this kind of edge is crucial to the game Fernandes plays, just as Roy Keane must play with complete fury.
With Roy (Keane), there was a time when we said to him, "You have to calm down a little bit". Because this is starting to become a problem. He often missed five or six games a season because he got into trouble," he said.
He tried to calm down, but ended up playing badly. So we said, "Forget it, just be yourself. It doesn't matter. At most, we will miss you for five games. Anyway, we don't want to see you turning into a docile kitten on the court."
The same is true for Bruno. When I had to referee in training in the past, he was a nightmare, just because of his passion. His physical fitness is very good, he runs back and forth all over the field, he can score goals and assists, and his statistics are extremely amazing.
Fernandes is just one assist away from tying Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne's Premier League single-season record for assists. His pass to Menu in the 2024 FA Cup final is regarded as one of the best passes of his career, and it was also McLaren's last game at Manchester United.
"I used to see him pass the ball like that every week in training," McClaren responded. "There are even better things than that. I think, 'How did you see that?'. That's what Bruno has. Scholes also has that. I often say to people, 'I've never seen that.'"
McLaren felt that after Manchester United suffered a disastrous defeat at Selhurst Park in May 2024, Ten Hag and his coaching staff had no retreat, and the same was true. "The Crystal Palace game? I said to the coaching staff, 'We should all walk home. We don't even have the qualifications to get on the bus, let alone get on the plane.'".
At that time, I originally thought that we would be in dire straits after playing Crystal Palace. However, when it came to the game against Arsenal the next week, the situation was different. The performance was quite good and the players came together. Manchester United lost the subsequent Premier League game 0-1, but they showed their fighting spirit.
McLaren continued: "The last few days, I saw the boys realizing, 'There is no excuse now.' The attitude of the players has changed. I tell you who stands out the most in this regard: Diogo (Dalot). He is outstanding. He has a good relationship with Ronaldo, like yin and yang complementing each other. He is always positive and intelligent. He will say, 'The responsibility is on us'. He often motivates the team with Bruno."
From the balcony overlooking the gym, McLaren watched as the players, led by Fernandez and Dalot, began to use the activation area to form a circle before training, play a warm-up game of kicking the ball and having a little fun, talking and laughing. He would often sit there and watch and think, 'Oh, okay, the players have taken it upon themselves'.
You could see this in the game against Arsenal. To be fair, for Eric, he realized that the tactics he originally used were no longer able to produce the expected results. The situation at that time was that the data showed that they were unable to press high, so he thought that maybe adjusting the formation to be more compact would be more advantageous. This is the first adjustment measure made. At this point, the players are thinking, we agree with this adjustment, it should work. So, they followed the arrangements and obeyed the corresponding arrangements.
The feeling of being able to play the Arsenal game was really quite good. There are certain similarities in everyone's mentality, it's like, 'Follow Eric's arrangement and win the FA Cup, so that we can achieve a perfect ending (retire after the victory is completed)'.
The defeat of Manchester City at Wembley showed that the "afterglow" lasted longer than most people expected. "At a tactical level, it was a great game," McLaren said.
There was a sense of surprise when Ten Hag brought in Sofyan Amrabat to replace Casemiro. Then, Casemiro withdrew from the roster due to the injury problems he had been dealing with.
McLaren admitted that he felt it was a miracle that Eric and Casemiro could come back for the preseason. Casemiro was the best player in the training. He never complained about anything in the final and had a great attitude.
By then, forward Ruud van Nistelrooy had joined as an assistant coach, and Ten Hag reorganized his coaching staff. "Luther is a huge help, he has such authority. He can communicate with Casemiro in Spanish or Portuguese. Every day when I watch Casemiro train, I can't help but think, 'This is the reason why he is at the top'. And now he is still playing for the Brazilian team and will play in the World Cup."
Set in January 2026, Menu has been in superb form since the arrival of Michael Carrick, and given this, Menu is to be seen as another player in the long list of players who should be at the World Cup in North America this summer.
The first time McLaren saw the 17-year-old Menu, he was deeply shocked. "He just appeared out of nowhere and Eric said out of the blue, 'He's going to train with us,'" McLaren said. "That's all Eric's fault. I remember the first day he said, 'Keep an eye on him.' I couldn't believe it. He never lost the ball. He was as strong as a bull. And then Eric put him on the court. I said at the time, 'He's absolutely brilliant.' In terms of the ability to create offense from the back and get the ball, he's really the type of player Eric likes."
McLaren regards Menu as a connector on the court. He feels that the 21-year-old player still has room for improvement. "I hope that he will be more authoritative on the court, even when he is playing for the England team." McLaren said, "He plays very cleanly, but he has the ability to show a stronger sense of oppression and dominance. He wants to become the top player, and Casemiro will help him."
McLaren, who helped guide Eriksson to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, is unsure how Tuchel's side will perform in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He said: "I was extremely confident until I saw them play against Japan (lost 0-1) and Uruguay (draw 1-1) a few days ago." "However, Harry Kane did not play, so the difference is quite significant. Their overall condition is acceptable. But I have some concerns about the defense."
McLaren will select two Manchester United players in the team's defence. He said, "I'm going to take Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, you have to do that." He also said, "Even if Maguire is a substitute. If you let him play for 20 minutes and put him in front, no matter which penalty area he is in, this is a very lethal weapon."
I heard Tuchel saying that set-pieces would play a key role in the World Cup and I immediately thought, "Harry should be at the top of the list".
Looking back on his time coaching England, McClaren once coached Carrick and recalled that he was very quiet, extremely intelligent and very decisive.
Carrick, who has led Manchester United back to the Champions League for the first time in three years, is adopting this mentality. "It feels great to be the interim manager," McLaren said. "You can say, 'I only have these players, what else do you expect me to do? I'm already in his He's done wonders with them'. Michael has proven that he can do that, and he proved that in his first season at Middlesbrough, and I remember watching them and thinking, 'Well, that's good, I like the way he's doing it'.
But McLaren knows that maintaining success is a completely different level of challenge.