Man Utd star explains how Erik ten Hag dealt with Cristiano Ronaldo strop vs Tottenham

Fred has revealed Erik ten Hag spoke to the Manchester United squad about Cristiano Ronaldo’s actions after he refused to come off the bench in the win over Tottenham Hotspur last month.

The Portugal forward opted to storm down the touchline and leave Old Trafford early in the 2-0 win, rather than come on as a substitute as requested. Ronaldo was subsequently forced to train with the youth team and wasn’t selected in the following game, a 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has since been reintegrated into the team and scored upon his return as United beat Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0. But, prior to Fred’s recent interview, no-one from Ten Hag’s squad had spoken publicly about the incident.

Talking to Brazilian outlet TNT Sport, Fred was asked if he saw Ronaldo storm from the bench. “Dude, I didn’t. I was on the pitch there,” he explained.

“You end up getting focused, you don’t even see it. Turned out I saw it later on the news. I was even surprised when I saw it, but it happens.”

Asked about how Ten Hag dealt with the situation, Fred revealed the manager did speak to the squad about Ronaldo. “Dude, it’s hard. Everyone deals in some way,” said United’s No.17.

“It’s obvious that everyone wants to be on the pitch, they want to play to help the team. So when you end up not playing, you get frustrated.

“This is normal, it has happened to him, it has happened to me, to someone else. I think that’s part of football. But I think it stayed there, we talked there, they had their conversation, he and Ten Hag.

“The important thing is that everything is ok. He scored again too, which is important, I hope he can keep scoring and have a great season at United.”