Former Manchester United midfielder Fred has described former manager Erik ten Hag as “tactically one of the best” he has ever worked with, even if the Dutchman was “a piece of c---“ on a personal level.
Ten Hag arrived at United in the summer of 2022 with an incredibly high reputation after building an exiting young Ajax side that took the Champions League by storm, but he would last just two years at Old Trafford before being fired.
Fred, who was part of the United squad in Ten Hag’s debut season, admitted the Dutchman deserved credit for his tactics, but could not hide away from the man-management issues that ultimately plagued his time at the club.
“There are coaches who are very good tactically, but very bad with the group,” Fred told the Charla Podcast. “Then there are coaches who are very good with the group and are tactically c---.
“For example, [Ole Gunnar] Solskjær, he was very good with the group, but tactically ... well, he had [Michael] Carrick and [Kieran] McKenna as his assistants. They both went to the Championship, two former players who managed to get promoted with their teams. They helped a lot, but [Solskjær] was more about uniting the group.
“Then I worked with Ten Hag. Ten Hag was, tactically, a very good guy. Very intelligent. But with the group, he was a piece of c---. He couldn’t manage it, man, he’d fight with everyone.
“He fought with Cristiano [Ronaldo], he fought with Casemiro, then he fought with me, with [Marcus] Rashford ... that’s rough. The guy lost the locker room.
“He wouldn’t play me! Sometimes it got stressful. Only his Dutch players played. A clique-driven coach. But he was, tactically, one of the best I’ve worked with. The team on the field was very good.”
The ‘Chaos’ Created by Ronaldo Feud
Ten Hag arrived at United 12 months following the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford, but the Dutch boss refused to bow to the legendary forward.
He found just four Premier League starts for Ronaldo during the first half of the 2022–23 Premier League season, with the pair famously clashing over Ronaldo’s limited defensive work rate. It sparked a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan that ultimately led to the Portugal international’s shock departure in January 2023.
“He wasn’t playing Cristiano,” Fred recalled. “Cristiano was doing well, scoring goals, then [Ten Hag] arrived and he wanted the team to run. Cristiano is older, we had to run for him there. It’s normal, but he didn’t want that, so he went and benched Cristiano. There was some drama.
“Then there was a game, all the guys were asking if Cristiano was leaving. There was nothing we could do. Then we got back from the game, as soon as the plane landed and the press guys switched their phones off of airplane mode ... that was when he gave the interview where he really criticized the club.
“The press guys were like, ‘for God’s sake!’ It was chaos. Walking back and forth on the plane. Crazy. It was just madness.
“He said things he shouldn’t have said. It was such a mess that week. Then he left.”
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