Ten Hag's handling of Ronaldo crisis shows Man Utd finally have the right manager
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 4 min read
The saga surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United future is set to continue after the Portuguese recent suspension from first-team training.
Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute in Manchester United’s win over Tottenham, leaving Old Trafford before the final whistle and not being part of the team’s celebrations.
Erik ten Hag confirmed that he would assess the situation the following day, and his decision to suspend Ronaldo until after this weekend’s match against Chelsea has been backed by the club.
READ: Cristiano Ronaldo's top five United tantrums
The decision is a big one from the manager – who is still relatively new to the job – and he is stamping his authority at the club, setting standards that his predecessors failed to do.
Related articles
Ten Hag stamps authority at Man Utd
Speaking to the media in his press conference, Ten Hag explained his decision, and showed qualities of leadership that have previously been lacking at Manchester United.
"I have to set standards and values and I have to control them,” the former Ajax boss said. In the team, we have values and standards and I have to control that. So after Rayo Vallecano, I told him it was unacceptable but he was not the only one, but that is for everyone, so when it is the second time, that will have consequences.
MORE: Ronaldo's options for a January transfer
"I think it will have a time for reflection for him, but also for everyone else, I sent a warning at the start of the season, next time there have to be consequences otherwise when you are living together when you are playing together, football is a team sport and you have to fulfil certain standards. And I have to control it," he concluded.
This isn’t the first time Ten Hag has done something like this: in 2018, when he was at Ajax, Amin Younes suffered similar fate after showing a lack of professionalism, and the manager had no problems imposing himself.
At the time, Younes was one of Ajax’s key attacking players, and soon after the situation, he departed the club as Ten Hag enjoyed great success at the Amsterdam club.
Benched the captain, rewards good performances, demands discipline, told the club to suspend player's contract talks, and has dropped Cristiano Ronaldo for being unprofessional — there's only one boss at Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7IoAbp5CHn— UtdFaithfuls (@UtdFaithfuls) October 20, 2022
Ten Hag has now made it clear that no player is above the team, even if they’re the side’s top scorer, top earner and most successful name – the culture at the club had been so poor for years, and it needed a strong figurehead to break the mold and establish the ideal culture.
Manchester United have been in desperate need of a figure who would make them better and help establish them as one of the world’s top sides again, and with Ten Hag’s handling of the Ronaldo issue, he has proven his credentials and shown he can be that man.
Great managers in the past have dealt with similar problems: At Barcelona, Pep Guardiola knew Ronaldinho wasn’t the right fit, at Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho felt Iker Casillas was a mole in the dressing room and at Arsenal more recently, Mikel Arteta dropped his captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, after disciplinary issues.
Ten Hag has had something like that so early into his Manchester United career and off the pitch, he’s managed it supremely well while on it, he has shown his team can function – and perhaps function better – without Ronaldo than with him.
Throughout his managerial career, discipline has been the top priority for Ten Hag: at Utrecht, he was adamant on bibs being organized perfectly after training, at Ajax, he wanted the same rules for his young and older players and at Manchester United, he’s ensured everyone is treated the same. He is the leader they have needed for a long time.
