Man Utd: Cristiano Ronaldo fires veiled dig at Erik ten Hag amid ‘behaved badly’ claim

Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo has fired a subtle dig at head coach Erik ten Hag, insinuating that the Dutchman “behaved badly”.

Following spells at Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo returned to Man Utd for a second spell during the 2021 summer transfer window.

Portugal international’s first season was successful as he scored 24 goals in his 38 appearances for the Red Devils across all competitions.

However, Ronaldo was negatively impacted by Ten Hag’s arrival in 2022 as the 39-year-old was not part of the Dutchman’s plans.

Ronaldo only made four Premier League starts and he resembled a petulant child as he did not cope well with being a backup option in Man Utd’s squad.

The forward had his contract terminated at the end of 2022 after he slammed Ten Hag, the Glazer family and several former teammates in an infamous interview with Piers Morgan.

Despite being unhappy following Man Utd’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, Ronaldo opted to join Saudi Pro League Al Nassr at the start of 2023. He has 62 goals and 17 assists in his 68 appearances for the Middle East side.

Ronaldo produced one of the most arrogant displays in football history at Euro 2024 , but he remains a key player for Portugal.

When asked whether he is ready to be a substitute for Portugal, Ronaldo aimed a veiled dig at Ten Hag as he insinuated that he “always respected coaches” when they do not “behave badly”.

“In my mind, I’ll always be a starter. That’s what you think. Until the end of my career, I’ll always think that I’ll be a starter,” Ronaldo said.

READ: Five reasons for Manchester United fans to be cheerful features the Ten Hag sack

“I’ll always respect the decisions, not just of the coach, but at the clubs I’ve played for, I’ve always respected them… once or twice, they’ve also behaved badly towards me (laughs). But seriously, whenever there’s professional ethics, I’ll always respect the coaches’ decisions.

“When professional ethics are not respected, there can always be controversy, but that is separate. What I feel at the moment, and the coach’s words also demonstrate this, is that I continue to be an asset to the national team and I will be the first to admit it. If that does not happen, if I am not an asset I will be the first to leave.

“But if I leave, I will go with a clear conscience, as always, because I know who I am, what I can do, what I do and what I will continue to do. I see the present in a very positive way because for me the most important thing is to face each moment, each cycle, and the cycle is good, I feel happy.”

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Ten Hag is under pressure following Man Utd’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool, but he still has the backing of Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth.

“Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely,” Berrada said. “We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him.”

Ashworth added: “I’ve really enjoyed working with Erik for the last eight weeks.

“I see my job is to support him in every way I possibly can and whether that’s operationally, whether that’s with recruitment, whether that’s with medical, whether that’s with psychology, whether that’s training ground flow, it’s just to take as much of that off him to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United.”