Manchester United finished sixth with 13 points off of first place in the Premier League under the previous manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, before Erik ten Hag took over. After the club's worst-ever Premier League season, the Dutchman was hired as the club's manager last July.
On a summer tour around Asia and Australia, the 53-year-old imposed his own set of rules and ideals on the team, and everyone rapidly learned what was acceptable and what was not. He wasted little time in fixing the team's toxic atmosphere, which had been marked by poor body language and nasty rumors from the practice field.
The controversy surrounding the manager's spat with Cristiano Ronaldo has been the defining story of his time at Manchester United. The fact that the Red Devils' impressive run of success began as soon as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner departed after a mutual termination in November has not gone unnoticed.
What did Erik ten Hag say about Cristiano Ronaldo's indiscipline?
Ronaldo's abrupt mid-season exit was sparked by his explosive interview with Piers Morgan, in which he blasted everyone from his boss, Erik ten Hag, to the team's owners. With his statements, it was evident that the Portuguese veteran could not remain in England.
Now, his former club and current national team teammate, Bruno Fernandes has disclosed that in order to improve the team's performance, Ten Hag had demanded excellent behavior both on and off the field. United's vice-captain has gone so far as to claim that the Dutch coach set the tone for the rest of the team that indiscipline would not be accepted at any level by punishing the 37-year-old forward, as well as Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
“He first arrived and we went on tour and the training sessions we had, he demands: 'You do it or you’re out'. You don’t play. In the beginning, everyone was like: ‘Will he do that if a big player doesn’t do what he wants? Will he pull him apart or not? And then he did it many times, he did it with Cristiano, he did it with Jadon and with Marcus also", Fernandes explained to BT Sport's Rio Ferdinand.
