Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said Cristiano Ronaldo let the team and him down during their time together at Old Trafford.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic published on Tuesday, Ten Hag claimed the Portuguese forward failed to meet expected fitness and preparation standards.
“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him. I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United,” Ten Hag said.
“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.”
Ten Hag alleged that Ronaldo struggled with fitness, pulled out of training sessions, failed to reach required heart-rate levels and completed only two of three laps in a running punishment after United’s 4-0 defeat at Brentford in August 2022.
“I confronted him with this,” Ten Hag 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.”
He added that Ronaldo “ran neither in possession nor out of possession” because “he didn’t prepare himself” and told teammates to “save your legs at the training.”
“I understand it when you are top fit, but first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels,” Ten Hag said. “Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.”
Ronaldo’s second spell at Manchester United ended in November 2022 when his contract was mutually terminated following a public fallout with the manager.
