"A disaster and factions": former United star exposes the behind-the-scenes clash between Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo
Fred has opened fire on his former Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag, lifting the lid on his time under the Dutchman and taking aim at the way he handled several of the team's biggest names.
Ten Hag led United to the EFL Cup title and the FA Cup final in the 2022-2023 season. Yet for Fred, the experience left nothing but bitter memories.
Speaking on the "Charla" podcast, the 31-year-old praised Ten Hag's tactical nous but said the Dutchman clearly failed to manage his players and the dressing room.
"Ten Hag was a wonderful coach from a tactical standpoint, but he was a real disaster with the team," the former United midfielder explained. "He argued with everyone, he argued with me, with Cristiano, with Casemiro and with Rashford."
His comments, carried by French website "Foot Mercato", did not stop there. "He wasn't playing me in matches, and sometimes the atmosphere was extremely tense. With Ten Hag, it was the Netherlands players who got the greater share of playing opportunities."
Fred went beyond his own grievances, accusing the coach of running cliques within the squad and favouring certain Dutch players when it came to minutes on the pitch.
"He was a coach full of cliques," Fred said. "But when it comes to the tactical side, he is one of the best coaches I have ever worked with."
The Brazilian also tackled one of the defining crises of Ten Hag's reign at Old Trafford: the fallout with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ten Hag built his philosophy on speed and movement, Fred explained, and the coach no longer saw an ageing Ronaldo as the right man to execute his ideas.
"He wanted the team to be fast, but Cristiano had grown older," said the former Fenerbahce man. "So he dropped him from the starting line-up, and a dispute arose between them."
Fred's account paints a different picture of Ten Hag's time at United. Tactical success, by the Brazilian's telling, went hand in hand with repeated dressing-room crises that ended with a string of players walking out, Fred himself among them when he joined Fenerbahce.
