Man Utd
McClaren: Ronaldo-Ten Hag Dispute Left Manchester United Dressing Room Split
McClaren says Ronaldo’s dispute with Erik ten Hag divided the Manchester United dressing room. squad
Steve McClaren has described a clear split inside the Manchester United dressing room caused by the prolonged dispute between Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag.
McClaren, who worked as Ten Hag’s assistant, said the issue came down to tactical demands and individual willingness to meet them. “Erik tried to impose his style and that’s why he had that fight with Ronaldo all the way through,” he said. “I said to Erik, very early, ‘It’s you or him.’”
He outlined the specific responsibilities Ten Hag expected from attackers when the team was out of possession. “Ronaldo was generally O.K., but he didn’t want to do the job that Erik wanted him to do. Or didn’t feel he was capable of doing it. The instructions out of possession were, ‘Get into the middle, as soon as you’re back, you’re the first press, then double run, even a triple run now and again.’”
McClaren recalled trying to persuade Ronaldo to accept the programme. “I used to say to Ronnie, ‘If you want to play, that’s what you’ve got to do.’ He’d argue, ‘Ah, nobody wants to press.’ I’d say, ‘Well, they’re all young lads, they can press.’” He added that Ten Hag wanted a collective effort: “It’s right that 11 players attack, 11 players defend. Not 11 players attack, 10 players defend. So I said, ‘You have to run, it’s simple, Ronnie. If you don’t, you don’t play.’”
On the wider impact, McClaren suggested the balancing act between accommodating an individual and enforcing a system divided opinion inside the squad. “Maybe other managers have tried to adapt and accommodate to get the best out of him. The balance of that was significant. You’ve probably got half the squad going, ‘We think Ronnie’s right,’ and half going, ‘We think Erik is right.’”
McClaren also reflected on changing attitudes to authority, drawing on his earlier time at Old Trafford. He spent 142 games under Sir Alex Ferguson between 1999 and 2001 and warned that players now ask, “Can that man help us win football matches?” He added, “With Fergie, he was right or you were out. If you weren’t with him and he knew it, you were gone. And that’s the authority, the power that he had developed over years and years.”
Man Utd
Neville Questions United Work Rate After Fulham Draw
Neville criticised United’s work rate after Fulham, while Carrick rejected claims about their energy.
Manchester United’s draw with Fulham has intensified scrutiny around their approach, with Gary Neville labelling the performance as the “ultimate criticism” a team can face. The former defender said Michael Carrick’s side did not do enough without the ball, following a week that already included elimination from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Carrick tried to keep the discussion focused on the broader picture, but Neville was blunt in his assessment of United’s movement and intensity. “I’ve never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that,” Neville reflected. “Michael has just said there was nothing wrong with the team’s energy. Michael has got to stop defending them.
“I get why he’s defending them; he’s loyal, he wants his players to work for him, and obviously there’s a long way to go in the season.
“Both teams were the same. I called them mannequins. I’ve never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No ‘on your toes.’ You should always be on your toes.”
Neville continued: “Very rarely do I say a team doesn’t work hard or is lacking in effort. That’s the ultimate criticism you can give a group of players.
“I’m always very careful to say that, but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball.”
Goalscorer Cunha offered a different explanation, pointing to energy rather than effort. “In the beginning of the second half, Fulham put in more energy than us and we cannot accept this,” Cunha said, after United covered six kilometers less than Fulham across the full game.
Limited energy has been an issue for United all season, and the numbers back that up. They rank 20th in time at high intensity, 20th in sprints and 20th in time sprinting, while also sitting 17th for time walking.
Asked if he agreed with Cunha’s view, Carrick was unconvinced. “I don’t, particularly.
“The way we finished the game … it didn’t look like that for me. I was quite happy with the way we finished the game. We kept pushing. I don’t think that’s an issue, no.”
Fulham
Cunha Salvages Point as United’s Dip Draws Concern
Cunha’s late equaliser spared United defeat, but a poor second-half dip raised fresh concerns.
Matheus Cunha rescued a 1-1 draw for Manchester United at Craven Cottage after Lisandro Martínez’s own goal had given Fulham the advantage. It was a result that spared United a defeat, but it did little to calm the criticism that followed a second-half collapse in intensity.
The first half was lively enough without producing a goal, with United showing occasional fluency through quick passing and tidy combinations. After the interval, though, the level dropped sharply. That decline became the major talking point of the afternoon, especially after Gary Neville described the 15 minutes after halftime as the “worst” he’d ever seen his club play since he started watching the Red Devils as a 5-year-old in 1980.
Michael Carrick will take the point, but the performance against one of the Premier League’s early strugglers raised more questions than answers. United looked most dangerous when speed entered their play, yet that rhythm was too infrequent to control the contest for long.
Marcus Rashford’s display summed up the frustration. Having lost some of the momentum that followed his reintegration, the England international wasted several promising openings and never found the conviction United needed. His lack of intensity in front of goal matched the wider drop-off in the team’s attacking cohesion.
There were brighter individual showings. Senne Lammens impressed in the first half despite limited success with Fulham’s goal, while Bruno Fernandes came close to scoring when he struck the post. Kobbie Mainoo also maintained his standards before being withdrawn late on, and Cunha finished with a decisive contribution after earlier involvement in the goal sequence at the other end.
In the end, United left with a draw that felt more like a warning than a recovery.
Fulham
Šeško ruled out as United wait on injury assessment
Šeško missed United’s visit to Fulham while Carrick waits on an injury assessment.
Benjamin Šeško was absent from Manchester United’s squad for the trip to Fulham after Michael Carrick confirmed the striker is being assessed over an unspecified injury.
Carrick had managed Šeško carefully at the start of the season, using him as a substitute in United’s first four Premier League matches. The 23-year-old was then fit to start the club’s opening Champions League game of the campaign, where he scored in the win over Sabah FK, and he also featured in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Earlier this month, Šeško had sounded upbeat about his recovery, saying: “I think waiting a little bit longer was a great decision, and now it’s healed, so it’s perfect,” Šeško insisted earlier this month.
Carrick’s latest update offered little clarity on the situation. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “He pulled up after the game the other day with a little bit of pain, so we’ll have to see how he is,” was all the Manchester United manager would offer.
In Šeško’s absence, Matheus Cunha kept his place through the middle. That decision left some fans frustrated, particularly with Amad Diallo unavailable on the right and Bryan Mbeumo regularly deployed there instead of being used as a central option.
Cunha brings link play and combines neatly with Bruno Fernandes, but he does not offer the same direct running that Mbeumo provides. Even so, Fulham’s tendency to leave space for opponents this season means United may still find openings without Šeško.
There is also anticipation around Carlos Baleba, who has still not made his Manchester United debut. Signed for $93.7 million (£70 million) and unveiled almost a month ago, he arrived from Brighton with an ankle injury. His first appearance could be confirmed at Craven Cottage.
