Cristiano Ronaldo unhappy with Erik Ten Hag’s methods at Manchester United

The jury is still out on Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United. The Red Devils started the season with a disappointing defeat to Brighton and a humbling at Brentford, which prompted the Dutch manager to move slightly away from his idealistic ultra possession-based football in favour of a slightly direct approach.

The subtle shift yielded an upturn in fortunes, with United going on a four-match winning streak in the Premier League, which included impressive home victories against Liverpool and league leaders Arsenal. However, a second thrashing of the season against local rivals Manchester City has reopened the debate about whether the Reds are, in fact, on the right track. And, according to the Times, one of the principal doubters is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo struggling for game time at Manchester United under Ten Hag

The Portuguese has, of course, plenty of reason to be unhappy. He has started just one Premier League fixture this season, the 4-0 defeat to Brentford. He has played 207 minutes out of a possible 630 in the league. He has scored only one goal in nine appearances in all competitions, a penalty against FC Sheriff in the Europa League. Three of his four starts have come in Europe’s second-tier competition, not what one of the game’s greatest ever players signed up for. It is perhaps no surprise that these latest reports come after he failed to even come off the bench in the derby humiliation against City.

Ten Hag, ever the diplomat, has tried to play down any reports of unrest, insisting in his latest press conference that, “He’s annoyed when he doesn’t play. But he’s training well, he’s in a good mood, he’s motivated and he’s giving his all, which is what we expect from him.”

Kind words from the manager but it appears that Ronaldo is rather less complimentary, believing that Ten Hag’s training and way of playing, despite recent tweaks, may have worked really well at Ajax but is not the way forward for United, as proved by the heavy defeats to Brentford and City.

Could Cristiano Ronaldo move from Manchester United? Where to?

With the ex-Real Madrid attacker seeing very little game time and an increasing number of reports hinting at his unhappiness at Old Trafford, could it be only a matter of time before he moves on? The big question is not only who wants him – it has been revealed that both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund discussed then opted against signing him in the summer – but also who can afford him?