Phelan: 'Ronaldo left Man Utd because he set his own standards too high'
Ronaldo first joined Man Utd in the summer of 2003 and left in 2009 to join Real Madrid for $97 million - a world record at that time. In the first six years of his association, he scored 118 goals in 292 matches, winning 9 titles with Man Utd, including one Champions League championship and three Premier League titles.
The Portuguese striker returned to Old Trafford at the end of the 2021 summer transfer period, after parting ways with Juventus. But at this reunion, he only stayed for a year and a half, scored 27 goals in 54 matches, and did not win any more titles. In the first season, although the club was not successful, Ronaldo personally still impressed with 24 goals in 38 matches in all competitions. In the 2022-2023 season, he lost his starting position under new coach Erik ten Hag, scoring three goals in 16 matches, before terminating his contract.
Phelan, who worked as assistant coach of Man Utd from 2008-2013 and 2019-2022, revealed that it was the high standards that made Ronaldo leave Old Trafford early. According to the 60-year-old coach, during his second time playing for Man Utd, Ronaldo was older, tougher, had a stronger will, so he also demanded very high standards from his teammates and then felt out of place.
"I like how Ronaldo doesn't want to lower his standards, but wants other people's standards to be raised. And sometimes you offend some people because of that," Phelan told Sky Sports. "I remember there were times when Ronaldo pushed and tried his best, but his teammates didn't respond, and he was disappointed."
The conflict started in the summer of 2022, when Ronaldo wanted to leave, join a club that qualified for the Champions League and joined forces three weeks late. Since then, he lost his starting position and had many conflicts with Ten Hag, including refusing to enter the field in the last minutes and leaving early in the match against Tottenham.
Right before joining the Portuguese team for the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo publicly criticized Ten Hag and Man Utd in a 90-minute conversation on the show Piers Morgan Uncensored. More than a week later, he and the owner of Old Trafford agreed to terminate the contract half a year early.
Ronaldo then agreed to go to Saudi Arabia and join Al Nassr Club on a two-year contract with a season salary of 200 million USD. In 33 matches for the new club, the Portuguese striker scored 26 goals, winning a team title. Recently, he reached a record of 850 goals in football history, in official matches at the club level and calculating FIFA points at the team level.
"Ronaldo is still playing at the international level. It's true that he's playing in the Arab world, but he's still playing and scoring goals," Phelan added about the Portuguese striker. "Ronaldo is doing all the things we know he can do at Man Utd. Ronaldo has a really good personality, hard-working and challenging. Ronaldo challenges me as a coach, and also Carlos Queiroz , Sir Alex Ferguson. But that's good because it takes you to a new level."
