- Erik ten Hag had a falling out with Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho at Man United
- Some United players believe the Dutchman treated both stars too harshly
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Senior Manchester United players felt Erik ten Hag went too far with his penalties on Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, according to reports.
Ten Hag was fired by United on Monday after just over two years at the club following a dismal start to the season.
His time at Old Trafford was littered with disagreements with players, including Ronaldo when he was just a few months into his new job.
Ten Hag and Ronaldo fell out in October 2022 when the Portuguese superstar refused to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham. Ronaldo was banned from first-team training, a move initially supported by the United squad.
However, things changed when Ronaldo could no longer go to the dressing room to pick up some coaches and had to ask a youth academy player to pick them up for him. Some senior stars believed the outright ban on using first-team facilities amounted to an ‘unnecessary humiliation’, reports by ESPN.
Erik ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo had a public falling out in 2022 that led to the Portuguese superstar leaving the club
Ten Hag then banned Jadon Sancho from his squad after a disagreement in 2023
Some senior players felt Ten Hag went too far with his punishment of Ronaldo and Sancho
Just days later, Ronaldo gave a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan in which he accused Ten Hag of disrespecting him.
Ronaldo’s United contract was subsequently terminated by mutual consent when he left the club for a second time to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
But that wasn’t the only public row Ten Hag was involved in during his time at United.
The following season, Ten Hag fell out with Sancho after leaving the winger out of his squad for a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal due to his ‘performance in training’.
Sancho hit back on social media, accusing his manager of making him a ‘scapegoat’, and Ten Hag responded by banning the England international from his squad.
Sancho was forced to train, eat and change clothes himself and refused to apologize to Ten Hag, despite encouragement from his teammates to do so.
As the standoff continued, it became clear that some players felt Ten Hag was being too harsh on Sancho and that ordering him to apologize publicly was an unnecessary demand.
With no olive branch in sight, Sancho was loaned out to former club Borussia Dortmund in January 2024 for the remainder of the season.
He flourished on his return to Germany and helped Dortmund reach the final of the Champions League when he delivered a man of the match performance in their semi-final first leg victory over PSG.
After that performance, ESPN representatives stated that United contacted high-profile pundits to tell them not to talk so positively about Sancho as it would put United in a bad light.
Sancho played for Dortmund against PSG last season, leading to United representatives reportedly asking high-profile pundits not to talk about his performances
Sancho is now flourishing at Chelsea after being loaned out by United on deadline day in August
Sancho returned to Carrington in the summer and with no club willing to match United’s asking price for the 24-year-old, he was brought back into the first-team squad after reaching a truce with Ten Hag.
However, Ten Hag was not comfortable bringing Sancho back into the squad as he wondered if his authority would be questioned, and this led to Sancho being loaned to Chelsea on deadline day in August .
Chelsea will have an obligation to buy Sancho for £23m next summer, meaning a £50m loss for United after they bought him for £73m in 2021.
Sancho has also started well at Chelsea, recording three assists in his first five league games, while Ten Hag is now back in the Netherlands after being put out of his misery at United.