Ten Hag faces BIZARRE criticism over Cristiano Ronaldo's Man Utd exit

James Shearman

• Updated: 26 Sept 2023 21:21 BST
• 3 min read

Former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus star Arturo Vidal has blasted Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag's decision to let go of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo returned to United in 2021 after 12 years away from the club and scored 18 Premier League goals in his debut campaign.

However, the arrival of Ten Hag a year later saw the Portugal international dropped from the starting eleven.

READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

A few months later, Ronaldo left the club after a remarkable interview with Piers Morgan in which he was heavily critical of the Dutch coach.

"I don't have respect for him because he doesn't show respect for me," said Ronaldo. "If you don't have respect for me, I'm never gonna have respect for you."

While most people agree that Ronaldo was no longer capable of leading the line at Old Trafford, Vidal clearly believes that letting him go was a mistake.

"That coach came in badly," Vidal said of Ten Hag's arrival in Manchester.

"How are you going to take out Cristiano Ronaldo? That's how these guys are. He was the scorer and he takes him out. The bald guys are very complicated."

Vidal's bizarre dig at Ten Hag's baldness comes after his disapproval of Jorge Sampaoli, who was in charge of the Chilean at Flamengo last season.

Ten Hag under pressure at Man Utd

Ten Hag has come under pressure at United after a poor start to the 2023-24 campaign.

They have lost three of their opening six games and a number of off-the-pitch issues also loom over the club.

Many of which don't involve Ten Hag, but the issue of Jadon Sancho, who has been barred from first-team training, certainly does.

The Dutchman has refused to let Sancho be a part of the team until he apologises for his alleged subpar work ethic in training.