Ten Hag Deserves Plaudits For Handling Of Cristiano Ronaldo

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Erik Ten Hag was not given an easy job when he arrived at Old Trafford. Manchester United brought in the Dutch coach who won loads of silverware at Ajax and who managed to get the Amsterdam side to the brink of a Champions League final. But from his first day at the club, things became harder for him, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar was not going to make things simple for the new man in the dugout. Right from the off, Ronaldo started with the drama which lasted through entire summer, but also spilled over into the season, right until late October. First, it was Cristiano’s wish to leave the club, then it was his decision to miss the pre-season and make Ten Hag’s job trickier, of not having the main star during an important tour, during which he wanted to start instilling a new style into the team. After not getting his move away from Man United – and Ronaldo really was linked with almost any club set to play in the Champions League, which was his wish – the new issues rose. When the campaign kicked off, Ten Hag did the sensible thing and did not throw Ronaldo right into the mix, as that would be counterproductive and would have a very negative effect on the rest of the team, which had a good, hard-working pre-season.

No, Ten Hag started showing Ronaldo a firm, but fair hand. He did not go through pre-season and he was not ready to just get into the starting lineup because of his name. To make things worse for the Portuguese, United started playing better while Ronaldo was on the bench, getting the needed wins and finding their way without him. Ronaldo started getting his chances mostly off the bench, while starting the games in Europa League. But then the Tottenham game happened. With the team playing their best match of the season so far and leading 2-0 against Spurs, Ronaldo decided to leave the match before it ended, going from the bench to the dressing room. Instead of staying to support the team, which was doing great on the day, he decided to show the childish side of his character, bringing plenty of negativity to the team once he realised he was not going to get on the pitch in that match. And everything that happened since Ronaldo’s incident has shown Ten Hag was right all along. Not only that, he did the seemingly right thing afterwards, as well.

The Dutchman decided to show Ronaldo that was a big ‘no-no’, announcing that he will not be part of the matchday squad for the following trip to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. United failed to win due to some poor finishing in the first half and maybe that was the price necessary to pay for Cristiano to realise how things work and that he is not bigger than this team. That is why it is not a surprise the media are today reporting about the rest of the team being happy with how Ten Hag dealt with this tricky situation. This move earned Ten Hag plenty of respect in the dressing room, with players more and more enjoying working under him. And the Dutchman rightfully deserves plaudits for how he handled the Ronaldo conundrum.

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