Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag claims Cristiano Ronaldo flopped during his second spell at Old Trafford because he did not work hard enough in training.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic, Ten Hag says the Portugal international “did not prepare himself” for the rigours of Premier League football and failed to get himself in top shape.
Ten Hag, who is now technical director of his boyhood team FC Twente, also claims he pushed to sign Frenkie de Jong, Declan Rice and Harry Kane during his time at United only to be let down on each occasion.
Ronaldo rejoined United in August 2021 and Ten Hag met him following his appointment as boss at the end of the 2021/22 season.
“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” says Ten Hag. “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.”
Ronaldo did not work for the team at Man United – Ten Hag
The situation eventually came to a head with Ronaldo, by then a regular substitute, demanding to leave the club before his contract was terminated in November 2022. He subsequently joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
“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.
“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.”
Ten Hag made his name as an elite coach after guiding Ajax to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 with a stylish young side.
After being recruited by former United chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough he outlined his vision to guide the club back to the top of the English game.
De Jong, Rice and Kane all failed to join United
His ambitious targets included Barcelona star De Jong.
“Everyone’s thinking the manager is doing the negotiations, that I’m involved in financial issues, but I was never,” says Ten Hag. “Of course, I did my best; I set up meetings with him, where it was Richard and John involved as well, to pursuade him to come over. He could have been very important building the team, not only that year but for the future. But we didn’t make it.”
Second choice was Rice, then at West Ham, who has gone on to become one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League and played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s title success last season.
Ten Hag added: “The issue was that West Ham didn’t want to let him go. I think we could have done more to test. We were on one page, they tried, but I don’t know how the process went. The point is, at United you need outstanding players.”
In attack, Ten Hag was desperate to bring in Kane, who instead joined Bayern Munich from Tottenham and has scored 157 goals in 155 games for the Bundesliga champions.
“I fought for it. I heard that he was very positive, but I never spoke with him about the issue,” he said. “I don’t know how the decision process went with John, Richard, the Glazers.”
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