Rio Ferdinand reveals what Ten Hag chat was like days after Ronaldo interview
Rio Ferdinand confessed he agonised about how his face-to-face with Erik ten Hag would pan out after his interview with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former England ace travelled to United’s Carrington HQ last week to chat with the Dutchman, just hours after his bombshell conversation with Ronaldo aired. Despite admitting that all was ‘absolutely fine’, Ferdinand harboured worries, given the Ronaldo’s hostile relationship with the Manchester United boss.
The Real Madrid legend slated Ten Hag’s mindset, openly criticising the Red Devils’ boss for claiming his squad is not yet ready to challenge for Premier League honours this year, reports the Express.
READ MORE: Chris Smalling has horror ‘Jonathan Woodgate’ debut with own goal, red card and 5-0 defeat
READ MORE:Erik ten Hag issues warning to Man Utd flop Antony after just one minute of action
However, the sticky situation Ferdinand imagined might go down when he turned up at Carrington didn’t materialise and it was all smooth sailing instead. While speaking on his podcast “Rio Ferdinand Presents”, the former defender joked that he was initially worried about how his chat with Ten Hag would go.
“It made it a bit sticky I’ve got to be honest with you,” he said while laughing but went on to detail: “The interview with Cristiano dropped on the Thursday 8am or 9am that morning, I was in the training ground at 10am.”
(Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Ferdinand’s worries were soon dispelled as he shared: “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.”
Was Cristiano Ronaldo right in his assessment of Erik ten Hag? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
With Rashford appearing cheerful, Ferdinand couldn’t resist commenting: “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’.”
While United have had a turbulent start to the season, Ronaldo’s frank words about Ten Hag’s chances added fuel to the fire, but the manager dismissed when talking to media. “He said that; That Manchester United can’t win the Premier League,” he said.
“He said this. If you read the article very well. He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester so everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to have an opinion. It is OK.” Following a crushing 3-0 defeat by Liverpool, Ten Hag’s squad showed their mettle by securing a 3-0 victory over Southampton last weekend.
