Former United assistant Mike Phelan comments on ten Hag, Ronaldo

Mike Phelan spent decades as an assistant at Manchester United. Originally, Phelan was part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-dominating regime at Old Trafford. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjær brought Phelan back. He served as an assistant to both Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick, who succeeded the Norwegian.

Phelan is not a part of Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff in the current edition of Manchester United. However, few have the insight of Phelan, who watched the club surge to the top of the world. Then, he was on the staff that saw United struggle mightily in recent seasons.

The former assistant sat down with Sky Sports to discuss the changing landscape at Manchester United. He offered his insight into several topics. For example, Phelan commented on working with Solskjær and Rangnick. Also, he discussed Harry Maguire, who continues to be a major talking point at Old Trafford.

Yet, two of the topics that stood out most pertained to Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag. Last season, ten Hag famously ousted Ronaldo from Manchester United. The Portuguese sensation moved to Saudi Arabia, where he started a trend of world-class talents accepting major money to play in the Middle East.

Mike Phelan says United mentality changed under SAF, Ronaldo and ten Hag

Ronaldo provided a big personality. Such is the star’s character. However, his standards, as Phelan put it, were remarkably high.

“The first time, the challenging part was that Cristiano came to Manchester United knowing in his own mind that he was going to be the best in the world,” Phelan said. “He had one ball under his hand and the team had another.”

“His work ethic and practice was fantastic and it rubbed off on the players. They knew there was someone special there. In that environment, with the standards so high, the players knew this guy could take them where they needed to go and to go again. He did that brilliantly.”

However, when Ronaldo came back under Solskjær, the…

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Author : Kyle Fansler

Publish date : 2023-09-12 19:45:31

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