Raphael Varane reveals Erik ten Hag 'fear' tactics as Man Utd manager | OneFootball

Former Manchester United centre-back Raphael Varane gave a damning review of Erik ten Hag's man-to-man management skills during their shared time at Old Trafford.

The trophy-laden French defender joined United in the summer of 2021, a year before Ten Hag took over. Varane had his own conflicts with the Dutchman but name-checked his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho as two players who suffered the most from Ten Hag's "conflict model".

Ronaldo was frozen out by Ten Hag and forced through a move to Al Nassr in January 2023 while Sancho was locked in a six-month feud with his manager after refusing to make a public apology. Varane cited these as examples of how the former United boss "wanted to gain respect through fear, perhaps" in an exclusive interview with The Athletic.

"He always needed an example of a player who was alone the entire time he was at Manchester," the centre-back continued. "He did that with at least one important player on the team. He was always in conflict with certain leaders of the group. That is his way of managing."

Much like Ronaldo and Sancho, Varane endured his own spell on the sidelines after a falling out with Ten Hag. The serial European champion was initially part of the Dutchman's first-choice backline, when fit, before he surprisingly dropped out of the starting XI in the early stages of the 2023/24 season.

Jadon Sancho (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo both suffered the wrath of Ten Hag / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

"It's hard to find the right words," Varane said of that spell. "It was very tense at times. Sometimes he made an effort to listen to the players' feedback. Sometimes he made decisions without listening to the players' feelings. So there were ups and downs. It was complicated at times."

Ten Hag never fully explained his decision to drop Varane and the defender has now revealed that it stemmed from a frank exchange of views.

"We had a robust discussion," Varane revealed. "We told each other some truths but then I didn't play for almost two months. I said I didn't agree with certain ways of doing things regarding the relationship between him and the team. It wasn't something that I thought was good for the team because some of the players were not at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach."