Piers Morgan didn’t hold back in his criticism of Erik ten Hag, branding the coach an “idiot” for his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.
Speaking on talkSPORT on September 9, Morgan didn’t mince words: “Ten Hag is an absolute idiot. He’s been a fool since he arrived at Manchester United. Everything he says is utter nonsense.”
Morgan compared Ten Hag to a mediocre teacher, accusing him of arrogance and lacking the ability to effectively manage top-tier talent. He argued that Ten Hag seems only capable of working with lower-ranked players or those with less experience on the big stage, suggesting that his approach is more suited to former students from Ajax than to high-profile stars like Ronaldo.
Ten Hag directs, before sending Ronaldo on as a substitute in the first half of the 2022-2023 season. Photo: EPA.
Morgan, born in 1965, is one of the most famous presenters in the UK. He has worked for many newspapers such as The Sun, News of the World and Daily Mirror before starting to move into television. He is also a passionate Arsenal fan.
Morgan once asked Ronaldo to reveal Man Utd’s internal secrets, as well as accused his former club of betraying him in a lengthy interview in early November 2022. As a result, Man Utd terminated Ronaldo’s contract early, forcing the Portuguese star to go to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr Club.
Since then Morgan has repeatedly publicly defended Ronaldo, as well as criticized Man Utd.
“Look at the players he couldn’t manage at Man Utd, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford. They’re top players,” Morgan said, adding that Man Utd were worse than last season and that if Ronaldo had stayed, he would still be better than any striker Ten Hag had signed.
Morgan (right) interviewed Ronaldo in late 2022, right after the player and coach Ten Hag had a conflict. Photo: TalkTV
Ten Hag arrived at Man Utd in 2022, helping Man Utd to third place in the Premier League and win the League Cup in his first season. Last season, he and his students won the FA Cup but fell to eighth in the Premier League – the lowest position in the club’s history. Besides the problem of playing style and achievements, the Dutch coach also had conflicts with Jadon Sancho about discipline, failed to boost the performance of Rashford, Bruno Fernandes or exploit the potential of Antony.
After leaving Man Utd, Ronaldo has continued to shine. On September 8, he scored his 901st goal in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Scotland in the Nations League. According to statistics organizations, CR7 is the player who has scored the most goals in official matches.
So Morgan believes Ronaldo is not as out of date as many people think. According to him, the 39-year-old striker has scored in Portugal’s last two matches as evidence. “He is the greatest player to ever play football,” Morgan added. “That’s why Ronaldo is the number one scorer and will reach 1,000 goals.”
At Euro 2024 this summer, Ronaldo failed to score a goal and was considered one of the reasons why Portugal stopped in the quarterfinals. Morgan believes Ronaldo had a disappointing Euro, but blames the Portuguese team for not serving their captain properly.
