Erik ten Hag has again delivered a pointed assessment of Cristiano Ronaldo, repeating his view that the forward\u2019s reputation for relentless professionalism does not match what he saw later in his career.<\/p>\n
Speaking on ESPN\u2019s Goedemorgen Eredivisie program, the former Manchester United manager said Ronaldo \u201chasn\u2019t been able to deliver\u201d at the level associated with the game\u2019s elite for several years. Ten Hag also argued that the decline was visible before the striker returned to Manchester United in 2021.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo\u2019s standing has long rested on discipline and self-improvement. As a teenager at Sporting CP, he would sneak into the club gym at night for extra sessions, a habit that helped shape a career which first took him to Manchester United in 2003.<\/p>\n
At Old Trafford, Ronaldo himself has spoken about the standards he absorbed. \u201cEverything was a lesson for me,\u201d he would tell The Times years later. \u201c[Being at United] taught me to train hard all the time … to eat properly, sleep good, recovery sessions, everything. You have to dedicate yourself 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten Hag, however, said that by the time Ronaldo returned to Manchester, the commitment he expected was no longer there. \u201cHe could no longer bring himself to endure the necessary suffering,\u201d the Dutch coach said. \u201cTo get the most out of every single day. To get fit. If you aren\u2019t fit in the Premier League , you don\u2019t stand a chance. He\u2019s still capable of finishing chances\u2014you can still see that. But if you can no longer get into the penalty area…\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager added that the issue was discussed directly. \u201cYou hold up a mirror to him and present arguments that hold water. Then, things become very clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten Hag also said the wider lesson was about sacrifice. \u201cEvery top team needs to embrace its star player, but that star player must also be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the team,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThat was precisely the problem with Ronaldo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronaldo\u2019s second spell ended after an interview during the mid-season World Cup break. \u201cUltimately, the choice was his,\u201d Ten Hag said. \u201cWhether he was willing to make that investment. If he wasn\u2019t, then I had to make different decisions for the sake of the club. And that\u2019s what we saw happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten Hag has renewed his criticism of Ronaldo, saying the forward could no longer deliver at the top level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,2019],"tags":[1162,180],"class_list":["post-22169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-manchester-united-news","tag-analytics","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22169","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=22169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}