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.
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. Because he didn’t prepare himself,” he added, the reason was. It was a public dispute and one of the most controversial phases in Ronaldo’s illustrious career. 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. “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. Ten Hag also questioned Ronaldo’s commitment, stating the forward wasn’t training at the required level. “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.
“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” Ten Hag told The Athletic. “I confronted him with this,” says Ten Hag.
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.
