Erik Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo‘s fallout was Manchester United‘s most talked-about issue during the 2022-23 season, with focus mainly on their conflict rather than the team’s declining performance.
It was a public dispute and one of the most controversial phases in Ronaldo’s illustrious career. It began when Ronaldo was substituted at half-time during a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano and left the stadium before the final whistle, which upset then-club manager Ten Hag.
The friction began there and escalated when Ronaldo refused to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. He was seen walking down the tunnel before the match ended. Ten Hag took the matter seriously, dropping the five-time Ballon d’Or winner from the first-team squad for the match against Chelsea despite his superstar status and forcing him to train separately. The rift hit rock bottom when Ronaldo, in a November 2022 interview with Piers Morgan, said he has “no respect” for Ten Hag. He also criticised club owners, as his contract with the club eventually ended by mutual agreement.
Former Manchester United manager Ten Hag opened up about his fallout with Ronaldo, revealing that he had flown to Portugal prior to taking over at Old Trafford to discuss his plans with him. He felt that Ronaldo let him and the team down, and that was the reason for the difficult decisions he had to make, even though he has enormous respect for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” Ten Hag told The Athletic. “I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. 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.”
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Ten Hag also questioned Ronaldo’s commitment, stating the forward wasn’t training at the required level. He pointed out that Ronaldo completed only two of the three laps during the punishment run the manager set after United’s 4-0 defeat against Brentford in August 2022.
“I confronted him with this,” says Ten Hag. “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,” he added.
‘Save your legs’
In his last season at United, Ronaldo scored one goal in 10 Premier League matches and two in six Europa League encounters before leaving the club during the World Cup international break.
Ten Hag said Ronaldo’s status as one of the best players in the world did not exempt him from working for the team. He also claimed the forward had advised other players to save their energy during training, something Ten Hag felt was only acceptable once they had reached the required fitness levels.
“Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.
“He was telling the players, ‘Save your legs at the training’. I understand it when you are top fit; you have sessions, you can save the legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels,” the 56-year-old said.