The Red Devils have endured a tricky start to the season, losing two of their opening four games but showing plenty of promise when putting Southampton and Fulham to the sword.
With new signings still to be bedded into his plans, Erik ten Hag will be hoping that a sprinkling of fresh faces will lead to further improvement at Old Trafford.
Doubts have already started to emerge questioning the quality of United this season, but McCarthy believes that some are ‘overlooking’ the talent within the squad. The ex-Blackburn star spent two years as part of the Red Devils’ coaching staff and worked closely with their forwards.
He left his position at the club over the summer as part of a coaching reshuffle, though he remains optimistic about what the future holds for United. Speaking to CNN Sport, he explained: “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.
“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.”
Erik ten Hag shook up his coaching staff over the summer (Image: Getty)
The Red Devils are in the heart of a rebuild under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and their title hopes have been played down previously, and McCarthy believes that it could be a bright season for his former side’s rivals Manchester City instead.
McCarthy believes that Manchester City are title favourites (Image: Getty)
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Speaking about their title hopes, he said: “Under Pep Guardiola’s leadership, I think the structure that the club has is perfect. The players play for him and they know exactly what to do and there’s no disruption. So of course, Manchester City has to be everyone’s favourite.”
Asked where United’s fellow rivals Liverpool fit into the title race, the former Porto star concluded: “Liverpool under (Arne) Slot looks really good. Looks like (Jurgen) 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.”
