Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag accuses Cristiano Ronaldo of letting the team down, while criticising club owners over broken promises
FORMER Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of letting the team down during his time in charge.
Portugal star Ronaldo was in his second spell at United when Ten Hag was hired in 2022.
Ten Hag’s relationship with Ronaldo quickly became tense and the striker refused to come on as a substitute in a win over Tottenham in the October 2022.
Ronaldo was dropped for a subsequent match against Chelsea, prompting him to give an explosive television interview in which he said he felt betrayed by United and did not respect Ten Hag.
The former Real Madrid forward’s contract at United was mutually terminated the following month.
“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” Ten Hag said in an interview with The Athletic.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in.”
Ten Hag said Ronaldo pulled out of training sessions and did not complete the full run that players were set after they were beaten 4-0 by Brentford early in his reign.
“I confronted him with this. Many times I say, ‘Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you to bring you in the right position, but if you can’t bring yourself in the box, you can’t score’. He was not capable to do this,” Ten Hag said.
“It’s the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing, that he’s exhausted. But he couldn’t.
“He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself.”
Ten Hag also claimed promises made by United’s owners went unfulfilled before he was sacked in 2024, shortly after signing a new contract.
Although United won the FA Cup just months earlier with a surprise final victory against Manchester City, Ten Hag was axed with the team languishing in 14th place in the Premier League.
The Dutchman blamed the United hierarchy of some of his problems, saying he was left humiliated when Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay was sold to Napoli without his consent.
Ten Hag also said he wanted to sign Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Frenkie de Jong during his spell at United.
“They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn’t keep,” he said.
“I said, ‘No selling Scott McTominay’. And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed.”