Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo "let the team and let me down" during their turbulent time together at Old Trafford. The Dutch manager, who took charge in the summer of 2022, explained to The Athletic that he had actively planned around the Portugal international after flying out to Portugal to discuss his vision prior to his arrival, only for the partnership to swiftly collapse in controversial fashion.
The friction reached a boiling point in October 2022 when Ten Hag omitted Ronaldo from a Premier League fixture against Chelsea, a direct consequence of the forward refusing to be brought on as a substitute against Tottenham three days prior. By November, Ronaldo gave an interview claiming he felt "betrayed" by the club, admitted he did not respect Ten Hag, and expressed feeling forced out before his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. He ended his spell under Ten Hag with just three goals in 16 appearances during that 2022-23 campaign, having initially returned to United from Juventus in 2021 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the age of 36.
Ten Hag pushed back against suggestions that he placed unreasonable pressing expectations on Ronaldo, pointing instead to conditioning problems. According to the former manager, Ronaldo ran neither in nor out of possession because he had failed to prepare adequately. Ten Hag noted that Ronaldo was even advising other squad members to "save your legs at the training," arguing that while elite teams must embrace star players, those individuals must still work for the collective once baseline fitness is achieved.
Ten Hag's remarks follow a recent sanction for Ronaldo, who was handed a 30-day suspension and a 255-euro (£215) fine by the Portuguese Football Federation for walking out of his national team camp last month. Reflecting on his own United tenure, which ended with his sacking in October 2024 after Carabao Cup and FA Cup victories, Ten Hag admitted that scoring goals remained his biggest hurdle across three years, having missed out on targets Harry Kane, Declan Rice, and Frenkie de Jong while opposing Scott McTominay's August 2024 transfer to Napoli.