Ten Hag: Ronaldo failed the team and me; Man United hierarchy tolerated toxic dressing room culture

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gave an in-depth interview to The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell. In the second part of the interview, ten Hag detailed his conflict with Ronaldo, disciplinary issues in the Manchester United dressing room, and his management of players like Rashford, Casemiro, Varane, and Fred. He believes the club's leadership did not provide sufficient support on disciplinary matters, instead fostering an environment where players wielded excessive power.

During his tenure at Manchester United, ten Hag frequently clashed with club leadership over player discipline.

He felt that he did not receive the necessary support from management when addressing disciplinary issues involving Jadon Sancho, Rashford, and other players.

Ten Hag stated:

"In doing so, they were actually perpetuating that toxic culture."

"They fueled this culture and handed power to the players."

Regarding Rashford, ten Hag did not deny his ability.

On the contrary, he believes the English player possesses exceptional talent, but whether that talent can be realized largely depends on the player's mentality.

"If his mindset is right, Rashford is an excellent player."

"I always trusted him and always played him."

"But when you set these standards, sometimes you have to take corrective action."

Manchester United, however, maintains that the team's internal conduct did improve later on.

During Amorim's tenure, the club's leadership supported him in managing player departures and believed that problematic behaviors in the dressing room had been addressed.

After ten Hag left Manchester United, Rashford was loaned to Aston Villa and Barcelona respectively, and performed well.

At the start of this season, Rashford has been hampered by a hip injury, while Carrick stated during pre-season that the English international's mentality was excellent.

Ten Hag believes that to maintain dressing room discipline, he sometimes had to be a strict manager, demanding players adhere to clear codes of conduct.

But at the same time, he also had to select the players most likely to help the team win matches.

This means the head coach must balance discipline with competitive pragmatism.

Ronaldo is a prime example.

In August 2021, Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford for his second spell at Manchester United. The Portuguese star was already at the club when ten Hag took over.

Before officially joining Manchester United, ten Hag even flew to Portugal to discuss his coaching plans with Ronaldo.

However, their partnership eventually encountered serious problems.

Speaking about Ronaldo, ten Hag stated bluntly:

"He let the team down, and he let me down, because we had already included him in the team's plans."

"Before I officially arrived at Manchester United, I specifically flew to Portugal to speak with him and explain what I hoped to achieve."

"Obviously, he is one of the greatest players in football history."

"I always respected him greatly."

"But as a manager, in that situation, I had to make rational decisions while continuing to keep the players I admired in the team."

According to ten Hag, some of Ronaldo's behavior in training was unacceptable.

Ten Hag revealed that Ronaldo had previously missed some training sessions.

Even when he did train, his heart rate did not reach the levels required by the coaching staff.

Furthermore, after Manchester United's 4-0 defeat to Brentford in August 2022, ten Hag famously arranged a running training session for the players.

According to the training plan, players were required to complete three laps, but Ronaldo completed only two.

Ten Hag stated that he had communicated with Ronaldo directly about these issues multiple times.

"I communicated with him directly about these matters."

"Many times I told him: 'Ronnie, everyone is willing to work for you and wants to help you get into the best position. But if you can't get into the box yourself, you can't score goals.'"

"He couldn't do that at the time."

"Some people think I asked him to press, which exhausted him, and blamed me for the problem; this is a misunderstanding."

"But the fact is, he really couldn't do it."

"He didn't run enough, whether the team had the ball or not."

"The reason was that he wasn't fully prepared himself."

In Ten Hag's view, even the best players in world football must take responsibility for serving the team.

A team can build tactics around top players and should maximize their individual abilities, but this does not exempt them from team responsibilities.

He stated:

"Every top team must embrace and utilize top players, but top players must also work hard for the team."

Ten Hag also revealed that Ronaldo had previously advised other players about training intensity.

"He would tell other players: 'Save some energy during training.'"

"If you are already in peak physical condition, I can understand this idea."

"In some training sessions, you can indeed conserve energy appropriately."

"However, you must first reach the required fitness level through training."

The Athletic stated that the journalist had relayed ten Hag's comments about Ronaldo to the Portuguese star's representatives, but as of publication, no response had been received.

Ten Hag believes that Ronaldo's influence on the team extended beyond himself and affected some Manchester United teammates.

He felt that some players did not fully embrace their responsibilities and did not prioritize football and Manchester United as they should.

"Players must step up; they bear great responsibility."

"For some players, football is not their highest priority in life."

"And for some of them, Manchester United is not the most important thing."

With renewed controversy surrounding dressing room discipline at Manchester United, the issue of player power has come into focus again.

After Manchester United's 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid last week, Lisandro Martínez made controversial remarks.

The club subsequently imposed internal disciplinary action, including a fine, but he was immediately reinstated to play.

Ten Hag did not comment on the specific Lisandro Martínez incident.

However, this brought the interview back to the dressing room management issues he faced during his tenure.

Ten Hag stated:

"I think this is the influence of the so-called 'Real Madrid gang'."

"Players have a lot of power and want to make their own decisions."

"In my opinion, this was not suitable for Manchester United's stage of development at that time."

"Management wanted the team to play aggressive, dynamic football, but these players wanted to play in a way that suited them."

The "Real Madrid gang" ten Hag referred to included Casemiro, Varane, and Ronaldo.

These three players collectively won 14 Champions League titles during Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti's tenures at Real Madrid.

They all have extensive experience in top-level football and achieved great success at Real Madrid.

However, in ten Hag's view, the playing style these players were accustomed to did not entirely align with the football style Manchester United's leadership wanted to build at that time.

Speaking about Casemiro, ten Hag said that Manchester United signed him hoping to get a tactical midfielder capable of organizing play, with abilities similar to an American football quarterback.

The Brazilian was supposed to become a key figure in Manchester United's midfield orchestration.

However, ten Hag believes that Casemiro later seemed to gradually lose motivation.

"But later, he seemed to lose motivation."

"I don't know what the club promised him at the time."

Previously, The Athletic reported that Casemiro believed Manchester United would sign players capable of challenging for the Premier League title in summer 2023.

At the time, Manchester United had just finished third in the Premier League in ten Hag's first season.

The team's achievements gave Casemiro expectations for the club's upcoming ambitions.

To address a problematic dressing room, ten Hag often displayed his disciplined side.

He believes that when players do not meet expected training and match standards, the coach has a responsibility to point out problems and push them to improve.

However, not all players agreed with his management style.

Brazilian midfielder Fred recently commented on ten Hag in an interview, describing him as an excellent tactical coach but poor at man management.

Someone sent Fred's interview link to ten Hag so he could see what the former Manchester United midfielder thought of him.

To this, ten Hag responded with a smile:

"I'm not angry with Fred."

"When players are not performing efficiently or are not fully prepared, you have to challenge them."

"But all of this is always based on mutual respect."

"You want to push them to improve, you want to bring out the best in them."

In ten Hag's opinion, a manager sometimes has to challenge players, but this should not be understood as a lack of respect.

His goal was always to demand that players meet the standards expected of professional football and perform at their best in training and matches.

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