How Erik Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo fell out at Manchester United
Back in 2022, Erik Ten Hag became the manager of Manchester United and had a notorious feud with football legend Cristiano Ronaldo. This has been one of the most open clashes in the modern game when considering how vocal the Portuguese was regarding this situation and how much he has spoken about it.
The Event to the Downfall
Manchester United ended 6th and trophyless during the 2021/22 season, led in the second half by interim manager Ralf Rangnick. They hired Dutch manager Erik Ten Hag, who arrived from a successful stint with Ajax, where he reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals during the 2018/19 season while playing amazing football and also won several leagues and titles with them throughout the years.The Old Trafford club gave Ten Hag a lot of influence and power, which included signing players from his former Ajax days and the Eredivisie as a whole. This also included being able to bench Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn't play in preseason because of personal reasons and started the first league game on the bench.
"I think it's justified because he achieved a lot in his career - it's so brilliant. But he also has to be aware that you always get (judged) by the moment and how you are acting today," Ten Hag said in 2022 when he was starting as United manager, as per The Guardian. "Especially in top sport, it is about today. It is not about age or reputation. When you are in top sport you get judged by the moment and how you act; that's normal. We have to be aware of that - everyone, not only Cristiano, as a team, as a manager and as a club. He has to live as anyone else along certain standards and the standards we set this season."
Now, not starting the odd game here and there wasn't the end of the world, but Ten Hag started to win games without the Portuguese legend and kept him on the bench. This included a lot of discussions, rumors, reports, and so on, which is something that filled his first few months with controversies.
And the worst was yet to come...
Interview and Exit
By mid-November, after beating Fulham 2-1 at the eleventh hour and not being called up, Cristiano went on to do a now-infamous interview with political journalist and personal friend Piers Morgan where he called out Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United as a whole, which has been cited time and time again since 2022."I don't have respect for him because he doesn't show respect for me. If you don't have respect for me, I'm never gonna have respect for you," the Portuguese said during the infamous interview in 2022. "I think the fans should know the truth. I want the best for the club. This is why I come to Manchester United."
This interview also included rants about the club's facilities, which resulted in United terminating his contract and the player walking away as a free agent. Cristiano would go on to play in Saudi Arabia and kept his critical perspective of Ten Hag, even claiming in 2024 that he didn't have ambition with the club.
"The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the league and Champions League. Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the league or Champions League," Cristiano said in 2024 at the Rio Ferdinand Podcast. "You have to be, to mentally say: 'Listen, maybe we don't have that potential, but I cannot say that. We're going to try.' You have to try."
Ten Hag, as one can imagine, didn't take long time to answer to this.
"No, he said this, if you read the article very well," said Ten Hag at the beginning of the 2024/25 season. "He is entitled to his opinion. It's OK. He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester."
The Aftermath
Ultimately, Ten Hag didn't succeed at United. After a run of three months when the Red Devils played extremely well after Cristiano's departure, the truth of the matter is that they didn't manage to keep this up, barring winning the 2023 Carabao Cup and the 2024 FA Cup. He was sacked after a very poor start during the 2024/25 season, with a lot of people claiming that he was paying for what he did to the Portuguese legend."For me he's (Ronaldo) no problem. He was never the problem and I think that's the past," Ten Hag said in 2025 when he was the manager of Bayer Leverkusen, as per ESPN. "I think it was what happened. It's the past and after that, we won two trophies at Manchester United. I wish him all the best for the for the future and I wish him the best of luck."
Cristiano Ronaldo's legacy as one of the sport's all-time greats and a Manchester United legend, making this conflict all the more jarring. There was never a clear confirmation as to why Ten Hag never started Ronaldo, with some speculating that it was his lack of pressing while others were saying that it was his way of presenting himself as the boss and gain authority over the squad by benching the biggest name.
It is difficult to predict, but there is no denying that his tenure was defined by this decision. It was a complicated situation that also meant Ronaldo's exit from European football, which makes this event all the more relevant in terms of history of the sport.
All in all, it was a weird and complicated feud that is talked about to his very day, with a lot of people taking sides and not being willing to understand the other's perspective.