Erik ten Hag doubles down on Cristiano Ronaldo criticism

Erik ten Hag has criticised Cristiano Ronaldo once again, claiming the Portuguese international has failed to “deliver” for seven or eight years.

Ten Hag, who was in charge of Manchester United from April 2022 until October 2024, fell out with the Portuguese superstar during the 41-year-old’s second stint at Old Trafford, which led to his subsequent exit from the club after an explosive interview with Piers Morgan prior to the 2022 World Cup.

Having heavily criticised the Al-Nassr star in an interview with The Athletic in October, ten Hag has now doubled down on his comments.

Speaking to ESPN, ten Hag said: “Every top team must embrace the top player, but the top player must also make way for the team. That was simply the problem with Ronaldo.

“The players wanted to work for him and they looked up to him because let there be no misunderstanding about that. He is of course a tremendous player, one of the all-time greats.

“But that is also the reality over the last seven, eight years, he simply can no longer deliver. From Juventus onwards it’s simply over.

“That is actually the great gift of Real Madrid. They always know when to say goodbye to players at the right moment. They recognise when a player’s level is declining. And they say goodbye at a moment when to the outside world, they still appear to be at their peak, but they can no longer actually deliver.”

Ten Hag also said Ronaldo could no longer push himself to be at the level needed to start at United.

“When I started at United, and I explained to him how we were going to play, what his role in that would be, and what he could expect from me and from the team. But ultimately, you also have to deliver yourself.

“He could no longer bring himself to push through the pain and to give everything every single day and to train at his maximum in order to get fit.

“If you’re not fit in the Premier League, Champions League, or with the Portuguese national team, well, then you simply have no chance.”