Erik ten Hag has launched an attack on Cristiano Ronaldo, revealing the backstage details of their fallout at Manchester United and accusing the Portuguese star of failing to prepare adequately to help the team.
The Dutch manager spoke in an interview with The Athletic about his experience with Ronaldo, clarifying his stance on the player’s readiness and commitment to training, and how plans to rely on him turned into a clash that ended with his departure.
Ten Hag said: “Ronaldo let the team down and let me down, because we planned to rely on him. I traveled to Portugal to talk to him about what I aimed for before coming to United. He is one of the best players in history, and I respected him a lot, but as a manager I had to make a rational decision.”
He added: “I confronted him with that. And I told him repeatedly: ‘Rooney [Rony], everyone wants to work for you to put you in the right place, but if you cannot reach the penalty box, you cannot score.'”
He continued: “He wasn’t able to do that. And it is wrong to say that I expected him to press and that he was exhausted. But he wasn’t capable of it.”
He went on to state: “He didn’t run, whether we had the ball or the opponent had the ball. And the reason was that he hadn’t prepared himself.”
Ten Hag added: “Every big team has to embrace its standout player, but the standout player has to work for the team.”
Regarding the Portuguese star’s instructions to his teammates, he said: “He was telling the players: ‘Save your energy in training.’ I understand that when you are fully physically fit; there are training sessions where you can save your energy, but first you have to train to reach the proper fitness levels.”
The fallout escalated in the autumn of 2022 after Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute against Tottenham, followed by his accusations that Ten Hag and the club showed him no respect during his interview with Piers Morgan, prior to the mutual termination of his contract on November 22 of that year. The Athletic noted that the player’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the manager’s remarks prior to publication.
