Erik ten Hag criticises players for leaving early

Erik ten Hag has criticised Manchester United players that left their pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano early on Sunday afternoon.

The Red Devils’ new manager said “it’s unacceptable” when quizzed on the topic this morning. However, he didn’t hold Cristiano Ronaldo solely responsible or to blame.

Ronaldo was recorded leaving the stadium early after being substituted in the second-half of United’s final friendly before their opening day clash with Brighton on Sunday.

It comes after a summer in which the Portuguese forward missed the vast majority of pre-season for ‘personal family reasons’ in Madeira, amid several links and claims that the 38 year-old was trying to force a move out of Old Trafford.

©Getty / Graham Denholm

Manchester United shared a 1-1 draw with Rayo in that game to conclude what has been a topsy-turvy summer off-the-field but quite an impressive on-pitch start for ten Hag. 

The former Ajax boss refused to solely blame Ronaldo for the early departure but did suggest unhappiness with the player’s current fitness status:

“He is definitely not on the level of fitness of our current squad, because he missed a lot of weeks. He needs games and he needs a lot of training.”