Ex-Man Utd Star Fred: 'Erik Ten Hag Was a Piece of Cr**'

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A former Man Utd ace slams 'piece of cr**' Erik Ten Hag.

In the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Manchester United have had numerous managers come in and try to return the club to its former glory. All have failed.

Only three have even managed to win a trophy. Louis van Gaal lifted the first, but was sacked two days after lifting the 2016 FA Cup. His replacement, Jose Mourinho, won the League Cup and the Europa League in 2017 before the club went on a six-year drought until Erik ten Hag took charge.

The Dutchman lifted the 2023 League Cup and FA Cup one season later but struggled to win over the Old Trafford faithful. It now appears as though he didn't get on so well with many of the players either.

David de Gea reacted to Manchester United’s decision to sack Erik ten Hag with an interesting choice of Emoji.

Like Ten Hag, Fred never truly convinced during his time at Man Utd. Even so, he still managed to play 213 games for the Red Devils. A total of 56 of those appearances came during the Dutchman's tenure, but the Brazilian was then sold after winning the League Cup in 2023.

It seems as though Fred wasn't the biggest fan of Ten Hag's man management. Recalling his time with the coach while speaking on the Charla Podcast , he explained:

> "Ten Hag was tactically very good, but with the group he was a piece of cr. 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.

> "[With Ten Hag] Only his Dutch players played. A clique-ridden coach. But, tactically, one of the best I've ever worked with."

Despite not seeing eye-to-eye with many of the players, it's interesting that Fred had plenty of good things to say about Ten Hag's tactical mind. Evidently, this wasn't enough to see things work out at Old Trafford.

One of the biggest issues for the coach was Cristiano Ronaldo . The iconic forward famously fell out with Ten Hag in late 2022, which led to his exit and move to Al-Nassr. Recalling the issues, Fred said:

> "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."

That drama reached boiling point when Ronaldo did a controversial interview with Piers Morgan, saying he felt “betrayed” by the way he was treated . He also said of Ten Hag:

> “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.”

It's no surprise that the relationship ended there and Ronaldo departed by mutual consent shortly afterwards. Ten Hag, however, remained at Man Utd until October 2024.

A run of poor form saw him fired, leaving the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League, with 11 points from nine games, and just three points from three games in the Europa League. He went on to manage Bayer Leverkusen but lasted only two Bundesliga games before getting the sack.

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