Erik ten Hag has revealed he felt let down by Cristiano Ronaldo, accused the club of fuelling a toxic culture, and claimed promises were broken over his contract in a wide-ranging interview about his time as Manchester United manager.
Speaking to The Athletic, the Dutchman, now technical director at FC Twente, gave his version of events two years after being sacked in October 2024, just months after winning the FA Cup and signing a new contract. United had lost to West Ham and were 14th in the table when the axe fell.
Ronaldo 'let the team down'
Ten Hag said he felt let down by Ronaldo even before his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, which preceded his departure by mutual consent. "He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him. 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," Ten Hag said.
He questioned Ronaldo's work ethic, saying he used to pull out of training. "I confronted him with this. 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," Ten Hag added. "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."
'Toxic environment' claim
Ten Hag believes the former 'Real Madrid connection' contributed to a toxic culture that still exists in the squad. Along with Ronaldo, he worked with Casemiro and Raphael Varane. "I can say I think that's what the Madrid connection brought in, that players are powerful and they want to decide. In my opinion, it didn't suit the phase United was in. The leadership wanted attacking, dynamic football and these players wanted to play what fitted themselves," he said.
He accused the club of not taking a strong enough line on Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. "And so, they [the club] are continuing the toxic culture, they fuel it, they give the power to the players," Ten Hag said. He added: "Rashford is an amazing player, if his mindset is right. I always showed my trust in him, played him. But when you show these standards, sometimes you have to make corrections."
Missed targets: Rice and Kane
Ten Hag revealed he wanted to sign Declan Rice and Harry Kane before their moves to Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Regarding Rice, West Ham were unwilling to sell at the time, but Ten Hag thinks United could have tested their resolve further. "The issue was that West Ham didn't want to let him go. I think we could have done more to test [them]," he said.
Missing out on Kane was a bigger blow. "I said to them [the club], 'I want only one player, and you know who [Kane].' I fought for it. I heard that he was very positive [about joining United], but I never spoke with him about the issue. I don't know how the decision process went with John [Murtough, then football director], Richard [Arnold, then chief executive], the Glazers. They came to the conclusion. I don't have the insights in the financials," Ten Hag said.
"I think a club like United, you need these profiles to be successful. Personality, and they are mature, and they're accountable. We signed five, six players, young, high potentials. But they are not the finished product. They need guidance from good professionals, like Kane, Rice and Bruno [Fernandes]."
'Broken promises' and Antony signing
Ten Hag claimed promises were not kept during his new contract discussions in the summer of 2024, including the sale of Scott McTominay to Napoli without his consent. "They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn't keep. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay.' And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed," he said.
On Antony, who cost £84million, Ten Hag insisted circumstances led to the move after Sancho 'refused' to play on the right flank. "There came up a problem because Sancho didn't want to play on the right side. He said that, which was very weird," Ten Hag said. He added that Antony was recommended by the club's scouting department. "I see on performances and profiles what is needed for the game. Not on emotion, if I like a player or dislike a player, or if I trained him before, or if I bought him or the club bought him, no, I can be acting very professional, I would say."
Ten Hag also said United were behind the curve in data collection when he first arrived, and his offer to help INEOS was declined. "I offered my knowledge and abilities to INEOS to help them to construct, but they were of the opinion that they knew already everything," he said. "They were convinced of, say, the philosophy, the strategy, the work methods. But they came from petrochemicals, from Formula 1, from cycling. Top football demands something totally different."
