Former Coach's Assistant Reveals Rift Between Ten Hag and Ronaldo That Split Manchester United

Former Manchester United assistant Steve McClaren has revealed the rift between ex-manager Erik ten Hag and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was caused by the latter's refusal to participate in pressing drills.

After Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021, he scored an impressive 24 goals in 37 matches during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure. However, when ten Hag took over in 2022, periodic conflicts eventually led to a complete breakdown between the two. Both ultimately departed Old Trafford, with Ronaldo launching media attacks on the club's internal and external systems before moving to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, while ten Hag was removed from his post following disappointing performances.

McClaren recently revealed: "I told Erik from the start that one of you had to go. Cristiano isn't a difficult person to work with—he simply didn't want to do what ten Hag demanded, specifically helping with pressing in defensive situations. I myself told Ronaldo that if you want to play, you have to help squeeze the game in the opponent's half too. He said no one wanted to do that. Erik wanted his system, which created conflict with Cristiano. I tried to explain that we already had young strikers who were doing the pressing work."

These events caused the team to split into two factions, with some coaches building the team around Ronaldo while others supported the manager's approach, creating an imbalance that divided the squad between those who sided with Ronaldo and those who backed ten Hag.