It has been less than a year since Erik ten Hag took charge of Manchester United and it already looks like United has found their man with the way he has made the team progress but also because of the way he has handled the dressing room and owned it, much of which was absent with his predecessors.
Erik ten Hag’s tiff with Cristiano Ronaldo was up for debate for a long time after he benched Ronaldo in several big games and even substituted him in games that upset the Portuguese who let his frustration known on camera.
Man Utd suspend Ronaldo for the Chelsea match.
Beautiful.
EtH is handling Cristiano perfectly.
— Ovie (@OvieO) October 20, 2022
ten Hag suspended Ronaldo in a big game against Chelsea as the forward had refused to come on as a late sub against Tottenham in the previous game. This led to a tiff between the two which eventually led to Ronaldo’s contract termination with United after a tell-all interview with Piers Morgan.
Bruno Fernandes reveals what Erik ten Hag did to Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho after blatant insubordination
Bruno Fernandes has recently revealed how strict ten Hag has been from day 1 on and off the field demanding discipline from his players and hasn’t hesitated to punish even the big names when they have erred.
Bruno talked about how ten Hag benched an in-form Marcus Rashford in an important game last year after the forward had breached the disciplinary rules and was made to pay by the manager.
Bruno said: “Marcus was probably in the best form against Wolves, he did something wrong and the manager pulled him out.”
“You do it, or you’re out!” 😳
“He did it with Cristiano, he did it with Jadon, he did it with Marcus…”@B_Fernandes8 breaks down what it has been like to work with Erik ten Hag, and what he expects of his players 😤 #BetweenTheLines | @rioferdy5 | https://t.co/EjQgOwTe18 pic.twitter.com/I46idmWjR1
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 23, 2023
And it wasn’t just Rashford, ten Hag did the same with Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho when they breached the disciplinary rules set by the boss. Bruno also talked about how it had to be like this as it was necessary for the young players to learn discipline.
He said: “And he did that many times, he did it with Cristiano, with Jadon, with Marcus. It has to be like this because if not that the younger ones will think ‘if he does nothing to them he’ll do nothing to me too”.
Bruno revealed the details in an interview with Rio Ferdinand where he talked about how ten Hag told everybody on day 1 that he demanded 100 percent from everybody and if the players are not ready to do that, they can walk out from the team and it seems like ten Hag is bearing results of his strict rules.
Fans compare a manager’s role to being in prison
Fans have commended Erik ten Hag for his attitude in the dressing room and for showing everybody who is the boss. They have compared his role to the prison head who punishes the strongest inmate in order to warn the other inmates and keep them in order. He did that by punishing Cristiano Ronaldo after his ill behavior.
The fan wrote: “Being a manager is a lot like being in prison. You find the biggest guy on the yard and ship him off to Saudi Arabia, no-one will mess with you from that point”
Another fan was all praises for the Dutchman and revealed that even though he wasn’t their first choice of manager for the club, they are loving how he is running the team and letting everybody know their places in case of indiscipline.
They wrote: “My gaffer ❤️ I’m so glad I’m hindsight we went for him, wasn’t necessarily my first choice but he’s bringing the club back to standards it needs to be”
My gaffer ❤️ I’m so glad I’m hindsight we went for him, wasn’t necessarily my first choice but he’s bringing the club back to standards it needs to be https://t.co/0P5OxdYTJj
— Imran (@_TheRealImran_) February 23, 2023
Erik ten Hag has his team fighting on four fronts as the Red Devils will play Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final this Sunday. They are also 3rd place in the Premier League table and will try to close the gap with Man City and Arsenal.