Erik ten Hag believes that Cristiano Ronaldo let Manchester United down before his departure by mutual consent in November 2022.

Ronaldo made a sensational return to Old Trafford in August 2021 and ended his first season back at the club as their top scorer with 24 goals.

However, Man United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League led to the legendary forward wanting to leave in the summer of 2022 – a move which ultimately failed to materialise.

Ronaldo was then forced to play a role largely from the substitutes' bench under Ten Hag, who was appointed Red Devils boss in May 2022, and this led to tensions growing between the pair.

The relationship between Ronaldo and Ten Hag eventually broke down, and the former was handed a club suspension after refusing to come on as a substitute in a Premier League match against Tottenham – Ten Hag later told reporters: “I warned you (Ronaldo), now there are consequences”.

In an explosive interview with Piers Morgan just days before his Old Trafford contract was mutually terminated, Ronaldo said: "I don't have respect for [Ten Hag] because he doesn't show respect for me.

"If you don't have respect for me, I'm never going to have respect for you. Not only the manager, but the other two or three guys who are around the club.

"I felt betrayed. I don't care, people should listen to the truth. Yes, I felt betrayed. I feel that some people didn't want me here, not only this year but last season too."

“Ronaldo let the team down, and he let me down,” says Ten Hag

Ten Hag, who was later sacked by Man Utd in October 2024, has since opened up on his time at Old Trafford and working with Ronaldo in an wide-ranging interview with The Athletic.

“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” said Ten Hag. “I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United.

“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.”

Ten Hag claims that Ronaldo frequently withdrew from training sessions at Man United and failed to meet the required heart-rate thresholds during the practices he did attend.

Furthermore, following Man United's heavy 4-0 loss to Brentford in August 2022, Ronaldo allegedly completed only two of the three mandatory laps during the gruelling punishment run imposed by Ten Hag on the entire squad.

‘Ronaldo didn’t prepare himself’, says Ten Hag

“I confronted him with this,” said Ten Hag. “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 the legs, but first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”

Ten Hag believes that Ronaldo’s influence rubbed off on some of his Red Devils teammates, adding: “Players have to act, they have a big responsibility. Football is, for some, not the highest priority, and United for some wasn’t the highest priority.”

Ronaldo - who was recently punished by the Portuguese FA - left Man United to join Al-Nassr in January 2023 and has since scored 128 goals in 151 appearances for the Saudi Pro League side, winning his first title with the club last season.

Meanwhile, Ten Hag has also criticised Man United’s hierarchy, including Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS, for ‘breaking promises’ during his time at Old Trafford.