Steve McClaren has revealed what caused the infamous 'standoff' between Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. Ronaldo, 41, had his contract torn up in November 2022 following an unauthorised bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, as he slammed United's owners, his team-mates and Ten Hag.
The Dutchman had joined United five months prior and there were immediate concerns over Ronaldo's role in his system. Ten Hag wanted his striker to press, having enjoyed glittering success at Ajax.
Ronaldo, though, wasn't minded to hustle and bustle. Appearing on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, McClaren opened up on how Ten Hag 'stuck to his guns' and didn't bend to Ronaldo's demands.
"There was a lot of battles on that training field," Ten Hag's former assistant began. "There was a lot of, 'all I want you to do is this, this, this and this'. That was Erik's coaching, 'Ronnie, this is your job'.
"I used to say to Ronnie: 'all he [Ten Hag] wants you to do is, you're the first press, make one run, make two runs, and maybe make a third one, if you feel like it. And then, recover back into the middle, in case we win the ball, and then we can play to you.
"That's all he wants you to do. If you can't do that, you won't be playing. Or if you won't do that, you can't be playing. Okay, or he won't pick you. I'm telling you, he won't pick you'."
"It's not like, I think other people would (compromise), and that's the difference, other people would. But Erik was, no, I'm doing that, and he's [Ronaldo] got to do it, otherwise he doesn't play.
"It was a little bit of a fight. Not a fight, but a standoff, and who is going to win? Erik stuck to his guns. I think most managers would accommodate to that, same managers are like that. But he stuck to his guns."
In the years since his acrimonious departure, Ronaldo's feelings on Ten Hag haven't changed. Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast in 2024, the Portugal captain declared: "The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League.
"(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the League or Champions League. You have to be, to mentally say, 'listen, maybe we don't have that potential, but I cannot say that. We're going to try. You have to try'."
