Ten Hag accuses Ronaldo of skipping laps and telling teammates to save their legs

Erik ten Hag has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of deliberately under-preparing during his final months at Manchester United, claiming the Portuguese forward completed only two of three scheduled laps at Carrington the day after a 4-0 loss to Brentford in August 2022 and was actively telling teammates to save their legs in training.

Speaking to The Athletic, ten Hag said he confronted Ronaldo repeatedly about his fitness levels and work rate, arguing the forward’s problems stemmed from inadequate preparation rather than the high-pressing demands of the system. “I confronted him with this,” ten Hag said. “Many times I say, ‘Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you to bring you in the right position, but if you can’t bring yourself in the box, you can’t score.’ He was not capable to do this.”

Ten Hag pushed back on the narrative that Ronaldo was simply too old for a pressing game. “It’s the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing, that he’s exhausted. But he couldn’t. He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself. Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team.”

The manager also took direct aim at Ronaldo’s influence on the dressing room, alleging the forward was counselling other players to reduce their effort in sessions. “He was telling the players, ‘Save your legs at the training’,” ten Hag said. “I understand it when you are top fit; you have sessions, you can save the legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”

Ronaldo departed United by mutual consent in November 2022, days after a bombshell interview in which he told Piers Morgan he had no respect for ten Hag. “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me,” Ronaldo said at the time, adding that he felt “betrayed” by figures inside the club.

Ten Hag also addressed recent comments from former United midfielder Fred, who said on the Charla Podcast that ten Hag was “tactically very good” but described him as a “piece of c***” with the squad, alleging he favoured Dutch players and clashed with multiple senior figures including Ronaldo, Casemiro, and Marcus Rashford. Ten Hag’s response was measured: “I’m not mad at Fred. You fight with your players when they are showing inefficient and unprepared standards. But it’s always with respect.”

Ten Hag was sacked by United in October 2024 after a difficult start to the season, but his account of the Ronaldo fallout offers the most detailed picture yet of the breakdown between two of the club’s most prominent figures during the 2022/23 campaign.