Wesley Sneijder bizarrely claims Erik ten Hag lost Manchester United dressing room after Cristiano Ronaldo axe | OneFootball

Former Netherlands international Wesley Sneijder has launched an extraordinary attack on Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, claiming he lost the dressing room 18 months ago.

The Dutch manager enjoyed a successful debut season at the helm, finishing third and winning the club’s first silverware since 2017.

It has been all downhill since then however, as the Red Devils find themselves in sixth place in the Premier League and in real danger of finishing outside the top six for the first time since the 2013/2014 season.

As would be expected, the former Ajax manager has faced a lot of criticism for his role in the nightmare that has been this season with pundits like Paul Scholes claiming back in March that INEOS had already decided to replace him at the end of the season.

Speaking on Dutch television show Veronica Offside (via The Metro) former Dutch star, Sneijder, had some choice words for his compatriot’s spell in charge of United and believes the problems he is facing at the club have been brewing since 2022.

Sneijder claimed, “He already made a mistake by competing with Ronaldo. He lost everyone’s respect there. He thought it would work the other way around, but of course not.”

“Those guys in the dressing room thought, ‘Is this man crazy?'”

The World Cup finalist went on to predict that Ten Hag’s future is already sealed due to the poor performances of the current campaign.

“Of course he already knows that he has to leave. But you’re not going to go yourself. If I was him, I would sit there comfortably [until he’s sacked].”

Whilst it is more than fair to highlight Ten Hag’s role behind United’s demise this campaign, it is somewhat harsh to refer to the Ronaldo incident as the catalyst for such problems.

The Portuguese conducted an explosive interview with Piers Morgan in November 2022 and despite some players probably being disappointed with the player’s departure, it clearly didn’t affect their performances.

This is due to the fact that the Old Trafford team probably played their best football of the Ten Hag era between December 2022 and March 2023 when they won the Carabao Cup and consolidated themselves in the top four of the Premier League that season.

Sneijder clearly has a bee in his bonnet when it comes to United as he recently spoke out against Antony’s reaction to winning the FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout against Coventry City and also criticised the club’s pursuit of Wout Weghorst in January 2023.

The player was famously pursued by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011 but he never ended up at the Theatre of Dreams. Sneijder has revealed since that he was very close to a move to Manchester but the deal collapsed when his representatives asked for more money.

It is most certainly fair to blame Ten Hag for the tactical mess United are in and he will most likely pay for it with the loss of his job. Nonetheless, Sneijder’s criticism can certainly go over the top and in the case of the latest Ronaldo example, barely make any sense at all.

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