Fred slams ten Hag as "real bastard" and denounces favouritism towards Dutch players

Fred, former Manchester United midfielder now at Atlético Mineiro, strongly criticised Erik ten Hag in an interview with the podcast Charla, calling the Dutch manager a “real bastard” and accusing him of running the Red Devils dressing room like a clan.

The Brazilian first acknowledged his former manager’s tactical qualities: “Tactically, one of the best I’ve ever worked with.” But he immediately tempered that assessment. “With the group, he was a real bastard. He argued with everyone. He argued with me, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], with Casemiro, with [Marcus] Rashford.”

Fred also reproached ten Hag for open favouritism towards his compatriots: “Only his Dutch players played. He was a manager who lived in a clan.” The attacking midfielder also mentioned the stress caused by his repeated sidelining.

These statements echo those of Cristiano Ronaldo, who himself criticised the manager’s attitude in a lengthy interview with journalist Piers Morgan before leaving the club mid-season in 2022-23 to join Al-Nassr.

Erik ten Hag managed Manchester United from 1 July 2022 to 28 October 2024, overseeing 128 matches. He won two trophies — the League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024 — before being sacked, despite a respectable record by recent club standards. Since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, Manchester United has struggled to find lasting stability, cycling through managers without managing to rebuild a coherent project.