Benni McCarthy says Man Utd players heard ‘disrespect’ from Man City | Football | Sport

Ex-Manchester United forward and coach Benni McCarthy revealed United players heard Manchester City stars making holiday plans to Ibiza before the 2024 FA Cup final. Over recent years, City have overshadowed United as Manchester’s footballing powerhouses, dominating them both in the league and in cup competitions, including the 2023 FA Cup final on their way to the Treble.

But the tables were turned at Wembley for the 2024 showpiece, when Erik ten Hag’s men defied expectations to trump their more fancied neighbours, despite finishing 31 points behind them in the Premier League. Alejandro Garnacho took advantage of a defensive mix-up to give United the lead, before Kobbie Mainoo scored a fabulous second that proved to be the difference.

City halved the deficit through Jeremy Doku, but it was more of a consolation goal. While McCarthy was confident before the clash, he admitted the City aces’ holiday plans lit a fire within the United stars.

Reflecting on that epic clash, McCarthy, who was entrenched within Ten Hag’s coaching setup, revealed what happened to Ladbrokes at the launch of their Gaffer of all Accas. He said: “When we went to walk and inspect the pitch, at that moment, the disrespect from the City players kind of played a huge part.

“You know, when you stand there and you see the players, all little groups of friends here and there, the players are out on the pitch and soaking up the atmosphere. When we walked back towards the dressing room, a lot of the City players were discussing their trips to Ibiza after the game. So in their heads, they’ve already won the FA Cup and they’re already thinking about going to Ibiza and that.

“I think that kind of infuriated our boys because, mate, we’d got a final to win. We have a final to play, and you lot are talking about your after party! Almost like in terms of they’ve already won it, and they are preparing the celebrations for it like they’re playing against no opposition. When we got into the dressing room, the players were like, ‘These lot are disrespecting us’.

“So then they, amongst themselves, had a little huddle, and in the huddle they were going at it about the disrespect, you know. I think that’s probably what we needed at that time. It just brought the furious side out of us.”

The result appeared to convince the United board to hold onto the under fire Ten Hag, who was sacked the following October. While the Dutchman was regularly levelled with blame, McCarthy believes the former boss was the difference. He added: “How the manager set the game up was perfect.

“The players took that maybe to a level even higher than what we expected because, wow, they were fired up and they were ready. There was no way in a million years that we were going to lose that game to City. Probably just on what some of them have heard from the City players discussing their Ibiza trips and all that.

“Hearing the City players discussing their trips to Ibiza, to celebrate before they even played a final – an FA Cup final for that matter – I think that’s probably what the United players needed to hear if that’s how much City thought of United.

“They thought that they were that superior to United, that they can talk about enjoying parties after the game before it has even kicked off. So I think that was brilliant.”