Erik ten Hag accused Cristiano Ronaldo of putting in minimal effort during his second stint at Manchester United.Ten Hag launched the scathing attack on the Portuguese superstar’s professionalism in a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic.Ten Hag lasted over two years at Old Trafford before he was ultimately axedGettyThe pair’s turbulent relationship lasted just 16 games at United as Ronaldo eventually fled to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in December 2022.Prior to Ten Hag’s arrival in the summer of 2022, he held talks with Ronaldo in Portugal about how he planned to restore the club to its former glories.But it took just two Premier League fixtures for the alarm bells regarding Ronaldo’s professionalism to sound.Following a 4-0 loss to Brentford, Ten Hag attempted to ram home his side’s lack of effort by making them run laps.However, Ten Hag, who ran the laps with his players, claimed Ronaldo finished one lap early.Ronaldo’s lack of effort soon became a recurring theme in training and, worryingly, during matches.What did Erik ten Hag say about Cristiano Ronaldo’s professionalism?“I confronted him with this,” Ten Hag, who is now the technical director at FC Twente, said.“Many times I say, ‘Ronnie, everyone wants to work for you to bring you in the right position, but if you can’t bring yourself in the box, you can’t score.’“He was not capable to do this. It’s the wrong idea to put this to me that I expected him to do the pressing, that he’s exhausted. But he couldn’t. He ran neither in possession nor out of possession.“The reason was because he didn’t prepare himself.”Ronaldo didn’t do his United legacy any favours in the manner with which he leftGettyTen Hag also claimed Ronaldo would tell his United teammates to ‘save your legs at training’ for matches.“I understand it when you are top fit; you have sessions, you can save the legs,” Ten Hag continued.“But first you have to train yourself to get into the right fitness levels.”Did brutal stats prove Ten Hag was right about Ronaldo?Ronaldo’s alleged lack of professionalism under Ten Hag was exemplified by the fact he scored just three goals and registered two assists in the 2022/23 season prior to joining Al Nassr.Two of the goals came against Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol in Champions League action.At the time of Ronaldo’s exit, he claimed he didn’t have any respect for Ten HagAFP“He let the team down, and he let me down, because we planned with him,” Ten Hag said.“I flew out to Portugal to speak with him about what I was aiming for before I came to United. Obviously, he’s one of the best in football history. I respected him a lot. “But at that time, as a manager, I had to make a rational decision and keep the players I admire in.”