Cristiano Ronaldo told why Erik ten Hag preferred Anthony Martial to Portugal superstar at Man Utd by former coach Benni McCarthy

McCarthy joined Manchester United as an assistant to former manager Erik ten Hag in 2022 and briefly coached Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford before the Portugal icon left the club in November that year, following a fallout with the Dutch coach. The ex-West Ham striker has now revealed why Ten Hag preferred playing Anthony Martial in United's attack instead of the legendary forward.

Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Gaffer of all Accas, the 47-year-old said: "Erik wanted pressing from the start. And I think Ronaldo, when he came to United, in his early years at Real Madrid, he was able to do what Erik expected him to do, like high press and then still have enough in the tank to get himself into positions to score.

"So Ronaldo was varying his game a lot, but it wasn't how Erik wanted to play. So he felt that it just couldn't work. Having Cris in the starting XI wouldn’t work with the way we wanted to play, and that's why Erik preferred Anthony Martial."

McCarthy, however, claimed that he loved working with the Al-Nassr star as he added: "That's why it’s just a real, real shame that it didn't work out because I thought he still would have been great. He was great. And he was great for the players just for his mentality because that's what you have to have when you play at United.

"You have to have the toughest mentality around because the amount of pressure, the amount of scrutiny that comes with being a United player. You need mettle, you know, and yeah, unfortunately it just didn't work out the way we wanted it to because of Ronaldo's age. He wasn't capable of lasting in the way the manager wanted and expected from his No. 9, and because of what happened, he had to move on. But I loved every minute of working with him."

While Martial initially had Ten Hag's backing at Old Trafford, the Frenchman slowly fell out of favour and was eventually released by the club at the end of the 2023/24 campaign. In September 2024, Martial joined AEK Athens on a three-year deal and a month later, Ten Hag was shown the door following a terrible start to the 2024/25 season.