Fred has given a blunt retrospective on Erik ten Hag's time at Manchester United, saying the former boss was "very good tactically" but poor "with the group". Speaking to A Bola, the midfielder said Ten Hag argued with him, Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford. He also said the Dutchman operated like a coach of little cliques and only played his Dutch players.
The dressing-room criticism
The comments land hard because Fred did not frame this as a small disagreement or a single bad week. His account is that Ten Hag was constantly in conflict, from selection issues to wider dressing-room tension. That is a serious charge, even if it remains Fred's version of events rather than a club statement.
Fred's exact line on the setup was even harsher: "Ten Hag was very good tactically, but with the group he was a piece of shit." He followed that by saying, "He argued with everyone. He argued with me, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], with Casemiro, with [Marcus] Rashford. He did not put me to play, sometimes it was stressful." The picture he paints is of a manager whose methods could work on the training ground but whose relationship with senior players kept breaking down.
Ronaldo and the fallout
Fred also tied the Ronaldo split to the broader confusion around that period. He said Ten Hag told the squad before a game that Cristiano Ronaldo was leaving, then the club's communications staff switched off airplane mode and saw Ronaldo's interview criticising the club.
Fred described that sequence as chaos and a week of confusion. He did not present it as proof of who was right in the dispute, only as his recollection of how quickly the mood around the squad turned after the interview.
The contrast with his other former United managers is clear enough. Fred said Solskjaer united the group, while José Mourinho was "a great guy" and "impeccable" when they later met at Fenerbahce. Ten Hag, by Fred's account, was the one who could coach but could not keep the dressing room aligned.
There is some contemporary context around United too. They are 12th in the Premier League after 5 matches, with a 1-2-2 record and 5 points. Their last five league results are DLDWL, and they have scored 8 and conceded 8, which fits the unevenness Fred is describing.
Fred himself is not speaking from the outside. He has 2 appearances and 180 minutes in the 2026 UEFA Champions League season, so this is a current professional voice reflecting on a period he lived through rather than a retired player settling old scores.
The main takeaway is still the same, though. Fred sees Ten Hag as tactically strong but divisive with senior players, and that is the part of the Manchester United story that will follow this interview. The next round of attention around the Dutchman will come from how those comments sit alongside United's current league trip to 12th after 5 matches.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
