Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand does not believe Erik ten Hag communicated with Cristiano Ronaldo about what his role would be this season.
Instead, Ferdinand suggests Ten Hag opted to drop hints over recent months to almost show up Ronaldo, but that seems unfair when I think the manager has always been respectful to the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ferdinand mentioned in his video that he has been on the phone to Ronaldo to discuss the fallout. That means the video below will give you some angles from the player’s argument and why he is so upset with Ten Hag.
Everyone seems to be forgetting how Ronaldo missed an entire pre-season during the summer and, at a time every player is trying to reach peak fitness under a new manager, he has been behind the first day he returned to Carrington.
Ronaldo has found opportunities hard to come by under the Dutchman, starting just twice in the Premier League this season. He has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford but there is a shortage in interest from other clubs.
Speaking on Vibe with Five, Ferdinand said: “In the summer, did the manager want him or not want him? Whatever the outcome, there has to be communication. Did Ten Hag say, ‘You’re not going, we’re going to keep you, but you’re going to be a bit-part player’. Was that conversation had? I wouldn’t have thought that would have happened at all.
“With someone like Cristiano, if you can communicate what the season is going to look like for him, bearing in mind he was their top goalscorer last season, what is the season going to look like? Did he [Ten Hag] say, ‘You’re going to get five minutes here and there, or, actually, I am going to play you and you’re going to be my No.9. Or you are going to be the back-up No.9 to [Anthony] Martial and [Marcus] Rashford’.
“If that conversation is had, I don’t think we have the reaction that we saw against Tottenham, when he walked off five minutes before the game had finished. Listen, I want people to know, I don’t condone that. I don’t condone Cristiano walking off and leaving his teammates with five minutes still to play.
“If I was in the changing room I’d have said to him, ‘Come on, man, that is not good enough’. But what I am saying is, you have got to look at how it gets to that point. If the manager is honest in a few months time when the dust has settled and looks back, I think he could say that he wishes he could have communicated this better, because we wouldn’t have got to where we are right now.”