McClaren insists Ten Hag was right to take on Ronaldo and says Dutch boss will succeed

Steve McClaren says Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was right to take on Cristiano Ronaldo and says the Dutch boss will succeed at Old Trafford.

McClaren returned to United in 2022 to spend two years as Ten Hag’s assistant before he left to take charge of Jamaica last month.

Ten Hag dropped five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo on several occasions during the early part of his reign, leading to the Portuguese icon to slam his manager in a public interview, accusing the Dutchman of “betraying” him.

Ronaldo’s United contract was mutually terminated just days later, with fans and pundits divided over who was in the right over the public falling out.

But McClaren, who got a first-hand glimpse of the duo’s relationship, says his former boss was right to demand more from the now Al-Nassr forward, insisting it was important to implement standards in the dressing room.

“I couldn’t fault his [Ten Hag’s] approach,” he said 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 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.”

🛣️ “It’s a road we want to go down.”

Erik sees the #UEL as an important avenue to a successful 2024/25 💪#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 24, 2024

McClaren: ‘United will succeed with Ten…

Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/football/premier-league/manchester-united-mcclaren-ten-hag-ronaldo/

Author : Cian Cheesbrough

Publish date : 2024-09-25 11:53:41

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