Steve McClaren Backs Ten Hag on Ronaldo Issue: Cristiano Ronaldo vs Eric ten Hag was the issue that once shook the football world, let alone Manchester United. Football’s biggest star was ‘mistreated’ by the club, and the coach, as told by the player later in a controversial Piers Morgan interview, had led both parties to part ways.
2 years after that incident, former Manchester United assistant manager Steve McClaren spoke out to back Ten Hag and said that the Dutchman rightly handled the Ronaldo situation.
Steve McClaren Backs Ten Hag on Ronaldo Issue
According to Steve McClaren, Ronaldo didn’t meet the standards of Ten Hag, who wanted to introduce the high-pressing style of play in which even the striker is supposed to run and press when the team is out of possession. McClaren was having an interview with The Telegraph.
“I couldn’t fault his approach. He really handled it very well. I said at the time he was the right man to go in. That was shown in the way he handled [the departure of Cristiano] Ronaldo. He [Ten Hag] came in with set standards. Set rules. Set way of playing. And if you didn’t run, you didn’t play. He was rigid on that. Which the Dutch are. He knew that was what was needed. There could be no flexibility, no way the players could manoeuvre [out of that responsibility].”
McClaren, who was also a former England football player, said that Ten Hag decided not to adapt to Cristiano Ronaldo to support the player. Instead, he went on to develop other players.
“This is what you had to do – or you didn’t play. And he took on Ronaldo, and quite rightly. Other managers have tried to adapt. Erik didn’t feel it was necessary to do that. [Ralf] Rangnick had tried and it hadn’t quite worked out and Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] the same. So he [Ten Hag] stuck to his guns and developed other players.”
Ten Hag’s style, though, has never clicked at Old Trafford, with the club finishing 8th in the Premier League last season. Manchester United is yet to find a style of play, as mostly it seems like the players are all over the park. By landing players that Ten Hag wanted and yet not producing an improvement, the Dutchman’s job is at stake if the team continues to perform poorly.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, proved he was right as the star went to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, a move that drove a lot of eyeballs to the league. Ronaldo ended last year being the top scorer in the world after scoring over 60 goals for the club and the country. The 39-year-old recently achieved a unique feat by becoming the first-ever player in history to reach 900 goals in professional senior-level competition.
Ten Hag Benched Rashford for Reaching Late to a Meeting
McClaren also noted a similar instance of Ten Hag being hard on a player. If you think it was Jaden Sancho, you are wrong, although you are rightful to think so. McClaren revealed that Marcus Rashfrod was once benched for arriving 1-2 minutes late to a meeting.
“On instances like lateness for meetings [that] was well documented, the Wolves one, [when Marcus Rashford] was a minute or two late for a meeting on game day,” he began.
“He [Ten Hag] put him on the bench. Granted he put him [Rashford] on and he scored the winner. Things like that were important. Discipline was important. Standards were important. Behaviour was important. Everybody knows that about United. That’s what he [Ten Hag] brought. Some people didn’t like that – that’s normal – but he never swayed from it. That’s his strength.”
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