Erik ten Hag says Cristiano Ronaldo has to be prepared to be “judged” after the Manchester United manager disciplined him for his actions at the end of the Tottenham match. Ten Hag had not spoken with Ronaldo at the time of his press conference on Friday morning but insisted he would have no issue conversing with the Portuguese. Ten Hag did not disclose why Ronaldo refused to emerge against Spurs and stressed that, although Ronaldo is rightly revered by United matchgoers, he has to be judged on his current form.
Erik Ten Hag said: “I think it is justified because he has achieved a lot in his career. I don’t have to mention. It is so brilliant. But he has to be aware that you get judged by the moment and how you are acting today. Especially in top sport, it is about today – it is not about age or about reputation. When you do top sport, you get judged by the moment and you act. That is normal. We have to be aware of it. Everyone has to be aware of it and not just Cristiano. We have to be aware of it as a team, as a manager and as a club. It is a difficult decision (to leave him out), it’s clear. But there have to be consequences for bad behaviour and when it is the second time you can’t let it go because otherwise it will be misty and miserable for the future. You have to take this measure. What I don’t like is I prefer the squad with Cristiano on board. The expectations of Man United are really high. The ambitions are really high. Our fans, all of our stakeholders, we expect results, so then you have to act along certain standards and you have to work every day on that. Cristiano is not in the squad but he’s training to keep himself fit to get ready for the next game after Chelsea (FC Sheriff).”
When Ten Hag was asked if Ronaldo would resume first-team training on Monday,
Erik Ten Hag replied: “We will first talk. Will it be longer? I don’t think so, no. That is not my purpose. What I said is I don’t want to miss him. I want him to be in the squad and be involved for every game because he has an impact.”
Ronaldo claimed in an Instagram post on Wednesday night “sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us”, although he did not apologise for his refusal to come on. United have backed Ten Hag’s disciplining of Ronaldo whereas under former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, players were empowered as Jose Mourinho was undermined. A number of players then found Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to be “a soft touch” during his tenure.
Erik Ten Hag added: “I don’t look back into the past. It is about today. So when I got appointed, I talked with the directors about the culture, top sport culture, standards and that is why they appointed me. They did some background and we had talks about how I lead, what my personality is and how I do it in a strategic way and about my standards and leadership. That is what it is about. To get top sport culture and to set the highest standards, we have to live them. That is what we do at the moment. It is not something you can construct in a couple of weeks. It takes time. But I think you see it in our games and therefore I was really happy with our performance on Wednesday. We are setting high standards on the pitch and it reflects what we are constructing. It’s not about [showing who’s boss]. It’s about the club. I have to take decisions in the interests of the club and the team especially, that’s my job. It doesn’t matter who it is, the age or reputation. Also with my line-up, I have to pick the team which I think has the best chance to win. He (Ronaldo) has to live as anyone else along certain standards, like the standards we set this season. We set certain standards. That is for any player.”
