MANCHESTER UNITED star Fred has admitted that Erik ten Hag has a “hard” job dealing with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Dutchman recently dropped the Portuguese forward for his side’s trip to Chelsea after he left the previous game against Tottenham before the final whistle.
Ten Hag and Ronaldo later resolved the issue and the 37-year-old was restored to the team.
The United boss received criticism from some quarters for his treatment of Ronaldo – but Fred reckons it’s a tricky job.
He told TNT Sports Brasil: “Dude, itâs hard.
“Everyone deals in some way. Itâs 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.”
Ronaldo has since started matches against Sheriff, West Ham and Real Sociedad, scoring against the former.
Earlier this year, SunSport revealed that some of United’s players were growing increasingly frustrated by Ronaldo’s “antics”.
The Portuguese star tried to force a transfer in the summer, skipped the Red Devils’ pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia and left their friendly against Rayo Vallecano early.
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His sulk at the Spurs game was enough for Ten Hag to impose a brief suspension on him, before welcoming him back to the fold.
Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid team-mate Casemiro has been central to everything positive at United in recent weeks.
The midfielder arrived in August in a shock £70million deal.
But one man that wasn’t surprised was his Brazilian team-mate Fred.
He said: “Man, at first, yes. I found out well before they announced it. A few months before, we had already talked, me and him.
“We had a nice chat, he had asked how it was, I explained everything to him, what was happening at the club, that it was not one of the best moments, but which, as I said, would be a fresh start with the arrival of a new coach.
“And he liked the project, thought it would be a cool project and decided to join us.
“And as I said, we are on a good path, we are winning some games, we have already beaten some of the big six clubs as well.
“So, as I said, itâs a process and at first we are on the right path.”
