Man Utd players were dumped because of frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo admits coach

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Former Manchester United coach Mike Phelan has admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo’s high standards caused the club to dump players during his second stint at Old Trafford. Ronaldo grew ‘frustrated’ at United during turmoil under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick before his explosive exit.

The 38-year-old icon’s Old Trafford return was met with overwhelming fanfare in 2021 after Sir Alex Ferguson persuaded him to snub Manchester City.

But the jubilation soon wore off as Ronaldo soon realised it was not the same club he left for Real Madrid in 2009.

United suffered the worst Premier League season in the club’s history in 2021/22, finishing sixth with just 58 points.

And after being pushed to one side by Erik ten Hag last term, Ronaldo forced his way out in November by publicly blasting the club in an interview with Piers Morgan.

Phelan, who returned to United to support Solskjaer, left the club when Ten Hag took charge, having worked with Ronaldo for another season.

He has hailed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner but admits that his soaring standards derailed some United careers under his watch.

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“The second time around, he came in a lot older and a lot more opinionated, strong-willed,” Phelan told Sky Sports.

“He still had massively high standards and was terrific to work with. But I’d probably say a tougher mindset. He had been at Man United, he had been Portugal’s ever-present, he had been at Madrid.

“I liked it because he didn’t want his standards to drop. He wanted other people’s standards to come up. And sometimes, you lose a few people along the way when that happens.

“I remember certain times when he pushed and pushed hard, and he didn’t get much reaction or much response. And there was frustration.

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“When you deal with top, top people, it’s about them and where they can finish and where they can get to. They want to look back and go ‘wow, that was successful’.

“And he probably realised, and I don’t know as I never had that conversation with him, that he couldn’t do it at Manchester United. So, his challenges were elsewhere.

“He’s still playing international football, yes he’s in Saudi Arabia, but he’s still playing and scoring goals. He is doing all the things we knew he could do at Manchester United.

“But a really good personality, hard-working and challenging. He challenged me as a coach, Carlos Queiroz as a coach, and Sir Alex as a manager. But that’s good because it takes you to another level.”

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