Former Manchester United midfielder Fred has hit out at the club’s old manager Erik ten Hag for being so difficult to work with.
The Brazilian clearly didn’t enjoy life under Ten Hag, who started well at Old Trafford before results went downhill and he was replaced by Ruben Amorim.
Looking back on Ten Hag’s reign, Fred felt the Dutch tactician was too rigid in his ways, and even if he was a good tactician, he didn’t manage the dressing room well.
Ten Hag also notably fell out with Cristiano Ronaldo, leading to the Portuguese superstar leaving the club on bad terms, and Fred reflected on how that unfolded in an interview with the Charla Podcast.
Fred on Erik ten Hag
Discussing how Ten Hag was with the Man Utd players, Fred did not hold back, saying: “Ten Hag was tactically very good, but with the group he was a piece of crap.
“He argued with everyone. He argued with me, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], with Casemiro, with [Marcus] Rashford. He wouldn’t put me in to play, sometimes it got stressful.
Fred did also reserve some praise for Ten Hag, however, saying the former Ajax boss was one of the best coaches tactically that he ever worked with, as quoted by Goal.
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Fred on Cristiano Ronaldo
Fred gave some insight into why Ten Hag and Ronaldo fell out, with the manager seemingly adamant that every player had to run more for the team, even the ageing forward.
? Fred says Erik ten Hag’s issue with Cristiano Ronaldo was simple: he was not running, so he did not play him. He says the squad did not mind running for Ronaldo, because he was older.
He says that after the 2-1 win at Fulham, the squad were told on the plane home that Ronaldo… pic.twitter.com/mTZRbEFCPi
— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone) October 2, 2026
“He wanted the team to run, but Cristiano [was already] older. He took Cristiano out [of the starting lineup], and then there was a falling out,” Fred explained.
MUFC fans probably won’t be too surprised by any of this after watching it unfold, but it’s certainly useful to also get the additional insight from those who were there when it was all happening.
It sounds like Ten Hag didn’t handle everything well, but in fairness this has proven a very tough job for every United manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
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