'Cristiano Ronaldo didn't meet his standards' - Erik ten Hag 'was right to take on' CR7 at Man Utd, claims ex-assistant Steve McClaren

Ronaldo's second coming at Old Trafford had a bitter end as his contract was ripped up in November 2022 following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, in which he criticised Ten Hag and the club hierarchy. The decision to part ways with one of football’s greatest players was met with mixed reactions, but Ten Hag’s unwavering commitment to his philosophy saw him remain firm throughout the saga.

Ten Hag has now received backing from his former assistant McClaren, who worked as the Dutchman's assistant in his first two seasons at the helm.

“I couldn’t fault his approach,” McClaren stated in an interview with The Telegraph. “He really handled it very well. I said at the time he was the right man to go in. That was shown in the way he handled [the departure of Cristiano] Ronaldo. He [Ten Hag] came in with set standards. Set rules. Set way of playing. And if you didn’t run, you didn’t play. He was rigid on that. Which the Dutch are. He knew that was what was needed. There could be no flexibility, no way the players could manoeuvre [out of that responsibility].

“This is what you had to do – or you didn’t play. And he took on Ronaldo, and quite rightly. Other managers have tried to adapt. Erik didn’t feel it was necessary to do that. [Ralf] Rangnick had tried and it hadn’t quite worked out and Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] the same. So he [Ten Hag] stuck to his guns and developed other players."

McClaren also pointed to an incident involving Marcus Rashford, where the England forward was benched for being late to a meeting on a matchday. Despite the minor infraction, Ten Hag upheld his standards, sending a clear message to the squad.

"On instances like lateness for meetings [that] was well documented, the Wolves one, [when Marcus Rashford] was a minute or two late for a meeting on game day," he began.

"He [Ten Hag] put him on the bench. Granted he put him [Rashford] on and he scored the winner. Things like that were important. Discipline was important. Standards were important. Behaviour was important. Everybody knows that about United. That’s what he [Ten Hag] brought. Some people didn’t like that – that’s normal – but he never swayed from it. That’s his strength.”

Since leaving United, Ronaldo has continued his illustrious career, now playing for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. The Portuguese superstar has shown no signs of slowing down and has started the 2024-25 campaign in remarkable form, scoring five goals in his first six appearances for the Saudi club. Meanwhile, United will look to get back to winning ways against Twente in the Europa League after they were held to a stalemate at Selhurst Park by Crystal Palace.