Cristiano Ronaldo scored three times inside quarter of an hour last Thursday. Erik ten Hag’s view is that it has been over for him since 2018.
The Dutchman, now FC Twente’s technical director after short spells at Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen, sat down with ESPN Netherlands’ Goedemorgen Eredivisie on Sunday and drew a hard line through the 41-year-old’s career at the point he left Real Madrid.
Ten Hag told the Dutch broadcaster, in comments reported by Goal, that the decline was not a question of a bad season or two.
“Over the past seven or eight years, Cristiano simply hasn’t been able to perform anymore. From Juventus onward, that was the end for him.”
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The verdict covers Ronaldo’s time at Juventus, his return to Manchester United under Ten Hag himself, and the ongoing Al-Nassr chapter in Saudi Arabia.
Real Madrid’s goodbye, in Ten Hag’s reading
Ten Hag framed Real Madrid’s decision to sell Ronaldo in 2018 as the smart call rather than a loss.
“That’s actually Real Madrid’s great strength. They always know when to say goodbye to players.”
The Dutchman managed Ronaldo at Old Trafford before the Portuguese forward left by mutual consent, and he has returned to the fallout publicly on more than one occasion since.
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The numbers in Riyadh
The timing of the Dutch TV interview makes the gap between Ten Hag’s reading and Ronaldo’s output harder to ignore.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick inside 15 second-half minutes as Al-Nassr beat Al Kholood 5-3 in the Saudi Pro League on 29 October, taking his career tally to 985 goals. The match had been level at 2-2 before the Portuguese forward’s treble under Ange Postecoglou.
The same week, Ronaldo was named the inaugural winner of the Ballon d’Or Of All Time, a public vote in which he beat Lionel Messi and his 2008 Manchester United season, 42 goals, a Premier League and Champions League double, was ranked the greatest among historic Ballon d’Or winners.
The 985 figure in the official count leaves him 15 short of 1,000.
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