Erik ten Hag did not spare his criticism of Cristiano Ronaldo. In an interview with “ESPN”, the Dutch specialist said that the Portuguese has not been able to unleash his potential in the last seven or eight years, and according to him, the striker's career has gone downhill since his transfer to Juventus in 2018.
“Cristiano belongs to the world elite, but the reality is that in the last seven or eight years he has not been able to show his full potential. After Juventus, everything was over for him“, said Ten Hag.
The Dutchman, who worked with Ronaldo briefly at Manchester United, believes that the decline began with his departure from Real Madrid. “When Real let him go, he was already in a decline“, the specialist added.
The relationship between ten Hag and Ronaldo at Manchester United was marked by open conflict back in the fall of 2022. The Portuguese publicly criticized the Dutch coach in an interview with Piers Morgan, stating that he had no respect for him. On November 22, 2022, United announced the separation from Ronaldo by mutual consent, and just over a month later - on December 30, the striker signed with Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia, ending his second stay at “Old Trafford“.