Cristiano Ronaldo had a turbulent time on his return to Manchester United in 2021, which ultimately ended in a fallout with the then-head coach Erik ten Hag.
In a candid interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo slammed the club, which led to a mutual termination of his contract with Manchester United in November 2022.
However, in a recent interview, current Man Utd defender Harry Maguire opened up on Ronaldo’s return and lifted the lid on what the dressing room thought about the return of the Portuguese superstar.
“I can’t speak a bad word about him. He was performing, he was scoring goals. We were RUBBISH and he was still scoring goals so it shows how good he is,” said Harry Maguire while speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“It was amazing to have him, when he walked through the door it was just incredible. It was just so disappointing how it ended and how we couldn’t find a way to perform with him in the team. He was performing, he was scoring goals, it was crazy.
“It just didn’t work, it had nothing to do with Cristiano because like I said he was our best player that year by far, the boys and tactics around him just didn’t work,” he added.
“I don’t know how many he scored that year. We were rubbish and he was still scoring goals, so it just shows how good he is. But we just couldn’t find a way to… all our system under Ole was about being on the front foot, being aggressive.
“Pressing, it was like a pressing machine. We weren’t the best team, we actually finished third and then second. We probably didn’t have the best players. We had some great players, don’t get me wrong, but it was all about pressing and working to a tactic and working to a shape, and when to jump and when to stay. And obviously Cristiano came in and we just didn’t adapt well enough for him, and you could just tell he was so upset and frustrated.”
“We just couldn’t believe what happened because we obviously finished third, then second, and then that season we brought in Sanch [Jadon Sancho], Rafa [Raphael Varane] and Cristiano in the summer.
“And you’re thinking, ‘Here we go now, like, let’s go win the Premier League,’ and it just never happened. It just never clicked. And obviously we lost Ole, which was disappointing if I’m being honest. I feel like Ole did an unbelievable job, I’ll probably speak more about Ole when I’m retired.
“But the way that he set us up in the first two years is probably the best I’ve felt in a team, under Ole and Kieran [McKenna] and Carras [Michael Carrick]. Those three, they had us so well organised. And like I said, we didn’t have the best team about. We were just well-coached, tactically brilliant.
“We could play, we could press. The third season I was there it just didn’t work, and it had nothing to do with Cristiano because like I said, he was our best player that year by far. The boys and the tactics around him, it just didn’t work,” he concluded.