Erik ten Hag opens up on Cristiano Ronaldo rift and issues with Man Utd owners
Ten Hag was speaking in depth for the first time about the end of his time with Manchester United.
Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says Cristiano Ronaldo “let the team down” during his time in charge at the club and claimed the Portugal international did not prepare properly for games.
Ten Hag also alleged promises made by United’s owners went unfulfilled before the Dutchman was sacked in 2024, shortly after signing a new contract.
Ronaldo returned for a second spell at Manchester United in August 2021 and was already at the club when Ten Hag was appointed before the 2022-23 campaign.
However, the relationship between the pair quickly broke down, with Ronaldo refusing to come on as a substitute in a win over Tottenham in the October before the Portugal international publicly criticised the club in a TV interview.
Ronaldo’s contract was mutually terminated the following month.
In an interview with the Athletic, Ten Hag said: “He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him.
“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 claims Ronaldo used to pull 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,” Ten Hag added. “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.
“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 was sacked as United boss in October 2024 with the side 14th in the Premier League, just five months after he won the FA Cup and then signed a contract extension.
The Dutchman claimed in the discussions with the club’s owners about his new deal that he was made promises which were not kept, and he was left “embarrassed” when Scott McTominay was sold to Napoli without his consent.
He added: “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.
“I said, ‘No selling Scott McTominay’. And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed.”