Erik ten Hag\u2019s latest reflections on his time at Manchester United lay bare just how quickly a promising appointment unravelled. Hired in the summer of 2022 to steady a team in decline, he has described the final stretch of his spell there as farcical, with support that was promised but not delivered.<\/p>\n
One of his sharpest frustrations centred on the end-of-season review that kept him in place, only for him to be dismissed three months later. Ten Hag said United assured him of loyalty, backing and clear communication, but insisted those commitments were not honoured.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the sale of Scott McTominay as a major source of disappointment. Ten Hag said he had made clear in Ibiza that the midfielder should not be sold, arguing that United needed his goals and mentality. Instead, McTominay moved on, leaving the manager embarrassed and dismayed.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman was equally direct on the wider culture around the club. He said players carried heavy responsibility and suggested United had allowed an unhealthy environment to persist. That echoed concerns raised previously by Ralf Rangnick, whose warning about the need for sweeping change now sounds even more pointed in hindsight.<\/p>\n
Ten Hag also spoke about the so-called \u201cMadrid connection,\u201d arguing that the arrivals of Rapha\u00ebl Varane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro brought a level of power and ego that did not suit the stage United were at. In his view, the leadership wanted one style of football, while those players preferred something that suited them more.<\/p>\n
His disagreement with Cristiano Ronaldo remains one of the defining episodes of the period. Ten Hag stood by the decision to leave him out, saying: \u201cHe let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,\u201d while also saying: \u201cI flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. Obviously, he\u2019s one of the best in football history . I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recruitment also came under scrutiny. Ten Hag said he pursued Frenkie de Jong, Declan Rice and Harry Kane, but United failed to land them. He believes those profiles would have given the squad greater stability and authority, even as he acknowledges his affection for the club remains intact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten Hag explains broken promises, key transfers, and why his United tenure collapsed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[59,180,182],"class_list":["post-21858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-featured","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}