Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo failed to support both him and the squad during their contentious time together at Old Trafford. Speaking to The Athletic, the Dutch manager explained that the club had built its strategy around the Portugal international forward when he took charge in the summer of 2022, only for Ronaldo to depart under bitter circumstances shortly after. Portugal forward Ronaldo was in his second spell at United when Ten Hag took charge in the summer of 2022 but left in controversial circumstances a few months later. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was manager, ronaldo was 36 when he returned to Manchester United from Juventus in 2021. That he’s exhausted,” added Ten Hag. “But he couldn’t, it’s the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing.
Ten Hag recalled flying out to Portugal to discuss his tactical vision with Ronaldo before taking the job. While acknowledging him as one of the finest players in football history, Ten Hag stressed that he had to make pragmatic decisions as manager regarding which players to trust on the pitch. I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United.
Tensions between the pair escalated rapidly during the 2022-23 season, where Ronaldo managed just three goals in 16 appearances under Ten Hag. The manager dropped the forward for a Premier League match against Chelsea in October 2022 after Ronaldo refused to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham three days earlier. According to i, For the first season, ‘centre-half, there’s a problem, centre-midfield, there is a problem, and especially I need a strategist, then we need goals’.
The rift culminated in November when Ronaldo gave an explosive interview claiming he felt betrayed by United, admitted he lacked respect for Ten Hag, and accused the club of attempting to force him out. The comment led to his contract being terminated by mutual agreement shortly after.
Reflecting on Ronaldo’s performance, Ten Hag rejected claims that he overburdened the veteran forward with pressing demands. He asserted that Ronaldo ran neither in nor out of possession because he had failed to prepare properly, adding that the forward advised team-mates to save their legs during training sessions instead of building the necessary fitness levels.
The revelation comes amid new trouble for Ronaldo, who was recently handed a 30-day suspension and fined 255 euros (£215) by the Portuguese Football Federation after abandoning his national team’s training camp last month.
Ten Hag, who was dismissed by Manchester United in October 2024 after securing the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024, also reflected on broader structural issues at Old Trafford. He disclosed that he had targeted Frenkie de Jong, Harry Kane, and Declan Rice to address squad deficiencies, while strongly opposing Scott McTominay’s transfer to Napoli in August 2024.
He noted that scoring goals remained the team’s persistent weakness throughout his three-year tenure, despite identifying early needs for a defensive organizer, central midfielders, and a main goalscorer.
