Manchester United’s dressing room under Erik ten Hag has been described in pretty brutal terms by Fred, more than three years after the midfielder left Old Trafford.
The Brazilian worked under Ten Hag during his final season at Manchester United. He has now opened up about their relationship, and he certainly hasn’t held much back.
Fred says the Dutchman was excellent tactically. Managing people was a very different story.
He even accused Ten Hag of favouring his own Dutch players, while naming Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford among those who clashed with the manager.
“He fought with everyone”
Speaking to the Charla Podcast, Fred was asked about the managers he worked with at Manchester United. His assessment of Ten Hag was about as mixed as it gets.
“Ten Hag was very good tactically, but with the group he was rubbish,” Fred said.
“He fought with everyone. He fought with me, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], with Casemiro, with Rashford… He wouldn’t play me, and there are times when you get annoyed.”
Fred then said Erik loved to play favourites. According to him, that group had a distinctly Dutch flavour.
“With Ten Hag, only his Dutch players played. He had his little clique. But tactically, he was one of the best I’ve worked with.”
Well, Fred isn’t trying to argue Ten Hag was a bad coach. Quite the opposite. He clearly rated his tactical work very highly. It was the human side which caused the problems.
Cristiano Ronaldo clash explained
Fred also gave his view on what went wrong between Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star’s second spell at Manchester United ended in November 2022 after his relationship with the manager completely broke down.
Fred believes Ten Hag’s demands without the ball played a part.
“He wanted the team to run, but Cristiano was older. He took Cristiano out [of the starting team], and then there was a row…”
That eventually became one of the defining stories of Ten Hag’s first season in Manchester.
Ronaldo left Old Trafford before Fred did. The Brazilian then moved to Fenerbahce in 2023, ending five years at United.
Solskjaer was almost the opposite
Fred had a much warmer assessment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, although that came with a little criticism as well. The Norwegian’s biggest strength, in his view, was keeping the dressing room together.
“Solskjaer was good with the group, but he was helped [in training] by the assistants. He united the group.”
So Fred has basically presented two very different Manchester United managers.
Solskjaer gets praise for dealing with the players, while his coaching sessions weren’t necessarily the strongest part of the package. Ten Hag gets almost exactly the reverse. And given Fred has now openly listed himself, Ronaldo, Casemiro and Rashford among those who had problems with Ten Hag, it’s quite a case.
