Erik ten Hag's feud with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United is well documented, and the Dutchman has now explained why their relationship broke down.

Ten Hag joined Man United in April 2022 and spent two and a half years in the Old Trafford dugout before being sacked in October 2024, with the club 14th in the Premier League.

The Dutchman did win a Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his time with the Red Devils; however, one of the biggest talking points of his tenure was his feud with Ronaldo.

Erik ten Hag explains why he fell out with Cristiano Ronaldo at Man United

When Ten Hag arrived at the 13-time Premier League champions in April 2022, Ronaldo was eight months into his second spell at the club after previously leaving United to join Real Madrid in 2009.

But his Red Devils return soon turned sour when the Portuguese superstar refused to come on as a substitute during a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in October 2022, with Ten Hag subsequently dropping him from the squad against Chelsea.

After being forced to train away from the first team, Ronaldo sat down for an unfiltered, explosive interview with Piers Morgan, stating he felt "betrayed" by the club and that he had "no respect" for the Dutchman.

Ten Hag reportedly clashed with the legendary forward over tactical pressing demands, playing time and authority, and almost four years on from this feud, he has finally explained his side of events.

In an interview with The Athletic, the former Ajax boss said Ronaldo pulled out of training sessions, did not get his heart rate raised to the required level when he did train, and only completed two of the three scheduled laps of the infamous run he made his players do after they lost 4-0 at Brentford in August 2022.

“I confronted him with this,” the 56-year-old 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. 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.

“He was telling the players, ‘Save your legs at the training’. I understand it when you are top fit; you have sessions, you can save your legs. But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”

Ronaldo wasn't willing to buy into Ten Hag's tactical demands and the work rate required to play in his system, leading to his departure to Al Nassr at the end of 2022.