Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken out about leaving Old Trafford and appeared to take aim at the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford. Erik ten Hag appeared to criticise Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after the Dutchman claimed modern footballers cannot “deal with criticism”.

Erik Ten Hag spent two and a half years in charge of United and had public disagreements with Ronaldo, Rashford and Sancho during that time. Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford ended early after he criticised Ten Hag in a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, with United terminating Ronaldo’s contract by mutual consent.

Meanwhile, Rashford was fined and disciplined by Ten Hag after he went partying in Belfast before reporting ill and missing a game. Sancho was also criticised by Ten Hag, with the winger dropped after he accused the manager of making “completely untrue” comments about his performance in training.

And in an interview with his agency, SEG, coach Erik Ten Hag took a subtle shot at the likes of Ronaldo, Rashford and Sancho, the Mirror reports. “This generation often finds it difficult to deal with criticism,” Ten Hag said, “Criticism really affects them.

The generation I grew up with had much thicker skin. You could be much more direct. I was much more direct. If I did that to my current group of players, I would demotivate them. If you do that to the current generation, they would be upset.”

Ten Hag’s subtle swipe at Ronaldo, Rashford and Sancho comes after former United defender Raphael Varane said Ten Hag “always clashed” with his players and admitted he was “surprised” when United extended his contract last summer, only to sack him just three months later.

“I was surprised that Ten Hag stayed at Manchester United,” Varane told the Athletic (UK), “The connection with the group is gone. It’s hard to find the right words. Sometimes it’s very tense. Sometimes Ten Hag tries to listen to the players’ feedback. Sometimes he makes decisions without listening to the players’ feelings.

So there were ups and downs, sometimes very complicated. Ten Hag always needed an example of a player being dropped during his time in Manchester. He did that with at least one important player in the team. He always had conflicts with some of the leaders of the group. That was his way of managing.”

United have continued to struggle since Ten Hag was replaced by Ruben Amorim and the Red Devils are currently languishing in 14th place in the Premier League, having won just three of their last 11 games. Most recently, United struggled to beat Ipswich 3-2 at Old Trafford with only 10 men following a red card late in the first half for new signing Patrick Dorgu.