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A former member of Erik ten Hag's coaching staff revealed what happened between Cristiano Ronaldo and the Dutch tactician.
A former member of Manchester United’s coaching staff, Steve McLaren, has provided some of insight into the cause of the falling out between Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag at the club.
Ronaldo vs Ten Hag
Ten Hag joined the Red Devils in the summer of 2022, with Ronaldo having already returned to the club, and their relationship as player-manager only lasted three months before the five-time Ballon d’Or winner forced his way out after falling out with the Dutch tactician.
The public-facing part of their friction began when Ronaldo left a pre-season friendly early, an act Ten Hag branded "unacceptable." Tensions escalated in October 2022 after Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute against Tottenham, walking down the tunnel before full-time.
As punishment, Ten Hag dropped him from the squad for the subsequent Chelsea match. The breaking point arrived in November via an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, where Ronaldo stated he had "no respect" for the manager. Days later, Manchester United terminated his contract by mutual consent.
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What Steve MacLaren said
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, McLaren, who was backroom staff at the time, shared that the friction developed during training sessions, with both sides failing to meet eye-to-eye.
“There was a lot of battles on that training field. There was a lot of ‘all I want you to do is this, this, this and this’. That was Erik's coaching - Ronnie, this is your job,” he said.
“I used to say to Ronnie, ‘all he [Ten Hag] wants you to do is, you're the first press, make one run, make two runs, and maybe make a third one, if you feel like it. And then, recover back into the middle in case we win the ball, and then we can play to you.
“That's all he wants you to do. If you can't do that, you won't be playing. Or if you won't do that, you can't be playing. Okay, or he [Ten Hag] won't pick you. I'm telling you, he won't pick you’.
“It's not like, I think other people would, and that's the difference: other people would. But Erik was, no, I'm doing that, and he's [Ronaldo] got to do it, otherwise he doesn't play. It was a little bit of a fight. Not a fight, but a standoff, and who is going to win? Erik stuck to his guns. I think most managers would accommodate to that. Some managers are like that. But he stuck to his guns.”