Ten Hag corrects media: Wrong to single out Ronaldo

When some Manchester United players left the friendly against Rayo Vallecano early, United coach Erik Ten Hag made comments about how unacceptable that behavior was. There were several players who left the field at Old Trafford before the final whistle blew and the 1-1 tie game was official.

This was Ten Hag’s comment:

“I certainly don’t condone this. This is unacceptable, for everyone. We are a team and you have to stay until the end.”

At no point did he criticize Cristiano Ronaldo in particular, and yet that is what many media outlets fixated on. So Ten Hag is here to tell you, “do your research”.

“There were many players who left but the spotlight is on Cristiano, that is not right,” Ten Hag told a reporter who asked him about Ronaldo and whether or not he perceives the player as being happy. “You mention it, you correct them, then move on. I think we’ve said enough on it. I said it’s not correct.”

Why is Ronaldo being singled out?

Cristiano Ronaldo asked to be transferred from Manchester United, and he’s a superstar, so it’s only natural that the focus goes to him by default. Though as Ten Hag pointed out, he was not the only player to leave the Rayo friendly early.

Despite his transfer request and missing the preseason tour in Thailand, Ronaldo re-joined training with the team last week. It looks like he’ll be playing the Premier League opener against Brighton on Sunday after Anthony Martial suffered a hamstring injury.

“I’m really happy [to have Ronaldo]. I told you before, we have a top striker, really happy he’s here with the squad and we stick to the plan,” Ten Hag told reporters.