Man Utd boss Ten Hag slammed by broadcaster for making Ronaldo leave club

By Thanh Quy   September 11, 2024 | 02:58 pm PT
Man Utd boss Ten Hag slammed by broadcaster for making Ronaldo leave club
Erik Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United in 2022. Photo by Premier League
English broadcaster Piers Morgan called Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag "a complete idiot" for what he did to Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at the club back in 2022.

"Ten Hag is a complete idiot," Morgan told talkSPORT on Monday. "I'm sorry, he is. He has been since he went there, right? He talks in complete gibberish."

According to Morgan, Ten Hag is like "a bossy middle school teacher who does not know how to handle supreme academic talent". The British broadcaster also thinks that the Man Utd manager only knows how to work with lower-ranked players like the former students he brought in from Ajax or players who have never been on the big stage.

Morgan, 59, is one of the most famous broadcasters and TV presenters in England. He has collaborated with many newspapers such as The Sun, News of the World or Daily Mirror before shifting to television. He is also a passionate Arsenal fan.

In November 2022, Morgan did an exclusive interview with Ronaldo, who revealed Man Utd's internal secrets, as well as accused his former club and Ten Hag of betraying him by not giving him playing time. As a result, Man Utd terminated Ronaldo's contract early, forcing the Portuguese star to go to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr.

Since then, Morgan has publicly defended Ronaldo, as well as criticizing Man Utd and Ten Hag.

"So you look at the players he's been unable to handle at United. Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford. It's all the top players," Morgan said, adding that Man Utd are getting worse than last season and if Ronaldo had stayed, he would have played better than any striker Ten Hag has brought in.

Ten Hag became Man Utd manager in 2022, helping the club secure third place in the Premier League and win the Carabao Cup in his first season. Last season, he took Man Utd to the FA Cup title but only finished eighth in the Premier League, the lowest position in the club's history.

In addition to tactical problems, the Dutch coach also had conflicts with Ronaldo and Sancho over discipline matters, failed to boost the performance of Rashford, Bruno Fernandes or exploit the potential of Antony, his former student from Ajax that Man Utd bought for $104 million.

After leaving Man Utd, Ronaldo has continued to shine. On Sept. 8, he scored his 901st goal, in Portugal's 2-1 win over Scotland in the UEFA Nations League. According to statistics, CR7 is the player who scores the most goals in official matches.

At Euro 2024 this summer, Ronaldo did not score any goals, so he was considered one of the reasons why Portugal stopped in the quarterfinals. Morgan believes that Ronaldo had a disappointing Euro, but blames the Portuguese team for not giving the service that he should have got.

 
 
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