The biggest talking points from Erik ten Hag's interview about his time at Manchester United

Erik ten Hag has attempted to put the record straight on his tumultuous reign as Manchester United boss in a wide-ranging interview. It's been two years since the Dutchman was sacked just months after winning the FA Cup and signing a new contract.

There were other highs, like winning the Carabao Cup in 2023, but also extreme lows, like the infamous 7-0 defeat at Liverpool. When the axe fell in October 2024, United had just lost to West Ham and were 14th in the table.

Ten Hag - now the technical director at FC Twente in the Netherlands - also had difficult relationships with some of the club's stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.

Speaking to The Athletic, Ten Hag has given his version of events and revealed the players he wanted to sign, keep and never wanted in the first place. Here are six bombshell revelations from the interview.

'Let down' by Ronaldo

Ten Hag pulled no punches as he reflected on his fractured relationship with Ronaldo, saying he felt let down by the club icon even before his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, which preceded his departure by mutual consent.

Ten Hag said: "He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him. Obviously, he's one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in."

Make sure you don't miss the best Man Utd coverage by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

Ten Hag questioned Ronaldo's work ethic and said he used to pull out of training. He added: "I confronted him with this. 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."

'Toxic environment'

Ten Hag believes the former 'Real Madrid connection' has contributed to a toxic culture that he believes still exists in the squad. Along with Ronaldo, he worked with Casemiro and Raphael Varane.

He said: "I can say I think that's what the Madrid connection brought in, that players are powerful and they want to decide. In my opinion, it didn't suit the phase United was in. The leadership wanted attacking, dynamic football and these players wanted to play what fitted themselves."

Ten Hag accused the club of not taking a strong enough line on two other players he fell out with, Rashford and Jadon Sancho. He said: "And so, they [the club] are continuing the toxic culture, they fuel it, they give the power to the players.

"Rashford is an amazing player, if his mindset is right. I always showed my trust in him, played him. But when you show these standards, sometimes you have to make corrections."

Wanting Rice and Kane

Ten Hag's tenure could have turned out very differently had he landed two big players he wanted, Declan Rice and Harry Kane, before their moves to Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

Regarding Rice, West Ham were unwilling to sell at the time, but Ten Hag reckons United could have tested the Hammers' resolve further, saying: "The issue was that West Ham didn’t want to let him go. I think we could have done more to test [them]."

Missing out on Kane was a bigger blow. He said: "I said to them [the club], 'I want only one player, and you know who [Kane].'

"I fought for it. I heard that he was very positive [about joining United], but I never spoke with him about the issue. I don't know how the decision process went with John [Murtough, then football director], Richard [Arnold, then chief executive], the Glazers. They came to the conclusion. I don't have the insights in the financials.

"I think a club like United, you need these profiles to be successful. Personality, and they are mature, and they're accountable.

"We signed five, six players, young, high potentials. But they are not the finished product. They need guidance from good professionals, like Kane, Rice and Bruno [Fernandes]."

'Broken promises'

Ten Hag claimed he was made promises that weren't kept during discussions over his new contract with the club in the summer of 2024, including the sale of Scott McTominay to Napoli without his consent.

He said: "They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn't keep. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay.' And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed."

Signing Antony after Sancho refusal

One of the most ill-fated signings of his reign was Antony, who cost the club £84million. Ten Hag, who worked with the Brazilian at Ajax, insisted circumstances led to that move after Sancho 'refused' to play on the right flank.

He said: "There came up a problem because Sancho didn’t want to play on the right side. He said that, which was very weird."

Ten Hag insisted Antony was recommended to him by the club's scouting department. He added: "I see on performances and profiles what is needed for the game. Not on emotion, if I like a player or dislike a player, or if I trained him before, or if I bought him or the club bought him, no, I can be acting very professional, I would say."

INEOS offer rejected

Ten Hag says United were behind the curve in data collection when he first arrived. Having relied on it at Ajax, he offered his expertise to the process, only for it to be declined.

He said: "I offered my knowledge and abilities to INEOS to help them to construct, but they were of the opinion that they knew already everything.

"They were convinced of, say, the philosophy, the strategy, the work methods. But they came from petrochemicals, from Formula 1, from cycling. Top football demands something totally different."