Cristiano Ronaldo Ripped by Former Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag, Star 'Let the Team Down'

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had choice words about Red Devils legend Cristiano Ronaldo when reflecting on his spell at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag asserted to The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell that Ronaldo "let the team down" during his return to the club.

"And he let me down, because we planned with him," the Dutchman said. "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 in."

Ten Hag also claimed Ronaldo "pulled out of training sessions" and didn't put forth the necessary effort when he did work out.

"I confronted him with this," the manager said. "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."

Beyond that, Ronaldo allegedly told some of his teammates to "save your legs at the training."

Ronaldo reunited with Manchester United during the 2021 transfer window. While his 18 Premier League goals led the club in 2021-22, that obscured his overall contributions.

Even by that point, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was beginning to decline. He compensated by becoming even more of a goal poacher, which had a domino effect on the rest of the tactical plan.

Ten Hag and his predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, both struggled to strike the right balance between using Ronaldo in his preferred role and putting the best lineup out on the pitch.

Things came to a head early into the 2022-23 season.

Ten Hag left Ronaldo out of the squad altogether for a match against Chelsea after he refused to come on as a substitute in United's previous fixture. Weeks later, the Portuguese attacker offered his side in an interview with Piers Morgan.

"I don't have respect for [Ten Hag] because he doesn't show respect for me," Ronaldo said (via ESPN's Rob Dawson). "If you don't have respect for me, I'm never gonna have respect for you."

He went on to say he "felt betrayed" by some senior executives at Old Trafford.

United announced days later Ronaldo was leaving by mutual consent with immediate effect.

This saga is merely one facet of the extended dysfunction that has plagued the club ever since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Ronaldo was more of a vanity signing for Manchester United and one that was likely driven by keeping him away from rival Manchester City. There was no real plan for how he fit tactically, leaving Solskjær and ten Hag to sort out the mess. Everyone witnessed the result.

Ten Hag wasn't a popular figure when he got the boot in October 2024, but supporters are probably looking back a little more positively on his tenure when he delivered FA Cup and EFL Cup triumphs.

In a lot of cases, a former coach calling out a star on the level of Ronaldo years after the fact can backfire. Some may instead see Ten Hag's interview with Whitwell as reflecting the kind of direct management sorely lacking at United for more than a decade.