‘I was Man Utd coach at FA Cup final – Man City players’ disrespect motivated us’

Manchester City have had the better of Manchester United over the last few years, but one ex-Red Devil opened up about the time Pep Guardiola’s side got too ahead of themselves

Ex-Manchester United star and coach Benni McCarthy claimed Manchester City players’ conversations about Ibiza motivated the Red Devils in the 2024 FA Cup final.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, City have established themselves as the top dogs in Manchester, ruthlessly overcoming the Red Devils in the Premier League and the cup competitions. In 2023, Pep Guardiola’s side overcame United in the FA Cup final on their way to securing a historic Treble.

One year later, the two Manchester sides were pitted together in a battle beneath the Wembley arch yet again. Except, this time, it was Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils who emerged victorious, with a clinical 2-1 victory over the Citizens.

It was a result few saw coming, as City had won the Premier League with 31 points more than United. Looking back on the game, McCarthy, who was part of Ten Hag’s backroom team, revealed the United players were burning with motivation after hearing the City players talk about their holidays.

McCarthy exclusively told Ladbrokes at the launch of Gaffer of all Accas: “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.”

United took the lead when Alejandro Garnacho capitalised on a mix-up between Josko Gvardiol and Stefan Ortega, before tapping the ball into the net. The second was a wonderful team goal that was finished off by Kobbie Mainoo.

While Jeremy Doku squeezed in an effort to halve the deficit in the second-half, the afternoon belonged to United. It also appeared to convince the United board to hold onto under fire boss Ten Hag, who was sacked the following October.

Despite Ten Hag facing endless criticism throughout his two-and-a-half year reign, McCarthy believes the Dutchman deserved a lot of the credit. 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.”

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