Piers Morgan accuses Erik ten Hag of LYING about Cristiano Ronaldo in furious response

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Piers Morgan has issued a furious response to Erik ten Hag's comments on Cristiano Ronaldo after the Dutchman said he "let the team down" at Manchester United

Piers Morgan has accused Erik ten Hag of lying after the Dutchman claimed Cristiano Ronaldo "let the team down" and didn't train properly at Manchester United.

Ten Hag was appointed as United's new head coach in May 2022 and worked alongside Ronaldo during his brief homecoming at Old Trafford. But the pair would have a major falling out which led to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner having his contract terminated less than halfway through the 2022/23 season.

And now, Ten Hag - who was sacked by United in November 2024 - has opened up on the issues he had with Ronaldo and alleged that he did not put the work in required by his manager and teammates.

Speaking to The Athletic on Tuesday, Ten Hag said: "He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him. I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United.

> "Obviously, he's one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision."

After scoring 24 goals in 38 appearances for United in 2021/22, Ronaldo's second season was more challenging. Indeed, he struggled for form and Ten Hag has since claimed the Portugal international did not train hard enough when present, adding that he even "pulled out of training sessions".

Ten Hag continued: "I confronted him with this. Many times I say, 'Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you to bring you in the right position, but if you can't bring yourself in the box, you can't score'.

> "He was not capable to do this. It's the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing, that he's exhausted. But he couldn't. He ran neither in possession nor out of possession. The reason was because he didn't prepare himself.

> "Every top team has to embrace the top player, but the top player has to work for the team. He was telling the players, 'Save your legs at training'. I understand it when you are top fit, but first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels."

Ten Hag's comments caused quite the reaction on social media with Morgan among those to hit out at the ex-United head coach, and claimed he is NOT telling the truth.

"WHAT? This is a disgusting travesty of the truth," Morgan, who has a close relationship with Ronaldo, said on X.

Ronaldo is still at Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, where he has scored five goals in nine matches this season. He netted in last Monday's 3-1 win against Neftchi Fergana which has taken him to within 19 of the 1000-goal mark.

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