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Ten Hag pulls no punches: “Cristiano Ronaldo betrayed me and the team, he did not run, he had not prepared”

Erik Ten Hag has spoken at length to The Athletic about his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo during their time at Manchester United: "He betrayed me and he betrayed the team, because we had planned everything together," the manager says. "Before arriving at United, I had even gone to Portugal to talk to him about my plans. Obviously, he is one of the best in the history of football and I respected him enormously, but at that point I had to make a rational decision."

  • CR7 did not train as he would have liked: "I told him several times: 'Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you and put you in the right position to score, but if you don't get into the box, you can't score.' He simply wasn't able to do it. It's wrong to say I expected him to press, but he couldn't do it. He didn't run either in possession or out of possession because he hadn't prepared. Every top-level team has to accommodate their best player, but the best player has to work for the team. Instead, he told the players: 'Save your legs in training.' I understand that if you're in perfect shape, but to get there you have to train," Ten Hag concludes.

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