MANCHESTER (The Thursday Times) — Erik ten Hag has given his fullest account yet of his turbulent two years as Manchester United manager, telling The Athletic that the club broke a series of promises made to him before his sacking in October 2024, and that Cristiano Ronaldo ‘let the team down’ during their public fallout in 2022.
Ten Hag said United persuaded him to commit to an extra year after an end-of-season review into his position, promising “loyalty,” “backing” and clearer communication, only to sack him three months into the new deal. He singled out the sale of midfielder Scott McTominay to Napoli as the starkest broken promise, saying he had been assured in pre-season talks that the Scotland international — United’s third-highest scorer in 2023-24 — would not be sold. “I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed,” he said.
The Dutchman also accused United of allowing a “toxic culture” to take hold, pointing to what he called the “Madrid connection” of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Casemiro, three players who arrived from Real Madrid with reputations and influence he felt the club never reined in. “Players have to act, they have a big responsibility,” he said. “Football is, for some, not the highest priority. And United for some wasn’t the highest priority.”
On the Ronaldo fallout that produced the defining image of his tenure, Ten Hag was unrepentant. He said he confronted the forward over skipping training and failing to complete fitness punishments set after a 4-0 defeat to Brentford, and defended his decision to drop him. “He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” Ten Hag said. “He was not capable of [getting into scoring positions]. He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself.”
Ten Hag also pointed to recruitment as a persistent weakness, naming three players he pushed for but never got: Frenkie de Jong, who stayed at Barcelona despite what Ten Hag described as personal lobbying; Declan Rice, who joined Arsenal from West Ham instead; and Harry Kane, who left Tottenham Hotspur for Bayern Munich in 2023. “I fought for [Kane],” he said. “I heard that he was very positive, but I never spoke with him about the issue. I don’t know how the decision process went.” Ten Hag believes landing any of the three would have put United “on a more positive trajectory” sooner.∎
