Rio Ferdinand reflects on meeting Erik ten Hag after Cristiano Ronaldo interview

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·17 septembre 2024

Rio Ferdinand reflects on meeting Erik ten Hag after Cristiano Ronaldo interview

Rio Ferdinand admitted he feared his chat with Erik ten Hag could’ve turned frosty following his recent interview with Cristiano Ronaldo, who was critical of the Manchester United manager.

It’s no secret that Ten Hag and Ronaldo shared a frosty relationship at United, which resulted in the Portuguese icon departing the club.

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Ferdinand made the trip to Carrington last week to interview Ten Hag just hours after his interview with his former team-mate was released.

The former United and England centre-back admitted ‘it was absolutely fine’ despite the fact he was feeling anxious.

Ronaldo had criticised Ten Hag’s mentality, stressing that it was wrong for the manager of United to say that the club are not in a position to challenge for the Premier League title.

Thankfully for Ferdinand, the interview went better than expected.

Talking on Rio Ferdinand Presents alongside co-host Joel Beya and guest Jermaine Pennant, Ferdinand said: “It made it a bit sticky I’ve got to be honest with you.

“The interview with Cristiano dropped on the Thursday 8am or 9am that morning, I was in the training ground at 10am.”

He added: “So the interview dropped I walked in thinking ‘this could be a bit frosty this morning, [I’ve] got to see Erik ten Hag and the players’, so I walked in [and] it was absolutely fine. I liked what I saw when I walked in there the other day, I have to say. The atmosphere felt as clean and pure as I’ve seen it for a while. Smiles everywhere.

“I was walking and talking with Erik ten Hag doing an interview, training had finished, and I walked around. I was looking at the pitch and two players were on there doing extras – shooting. Cracking up, laughing, doing a competition. Bruno and Marcus Rashford.

“It warmed my heart, you know, because we used to talk so much about Rashford not looking happy. I’ve been one of the main voices saying that we need to see a happy, smiling, joyful Marcus to get the best out of him.”

Reflecting on the smile evident across Rashford’s face, Ferdinand continued: “I stopped the interview and said ‘look Marcus is laughing, he looks happy man! That ain’t the Marcus I keep seeing on the weekends’, and the manager said ‘This is the Marcus we see here everyday’.”

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