Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo criticism: 'He is in Saudi Arabia, not Man Utd'

Suraj Radia

• 12 Sept 2024 18:00 BST
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments about the Manchester United manager’s mentality.

Ronaldo reignited his feud with Ten Hag this week while on a podcast hosted by Rio Ferdinand, criticising the United boss for openly admitting the club could not win the Premier League or Champions League.

The Portuguese superstar left United in acrimonious circumstances after falling out with Ten Hag in 2022 and there appears to be no love lost between the pair nearly two years later.

READ MORE: Man Utd issue Ten Hag sack date

Ten Hag hinted that Ronaldo was out of touch with the goings on at Old Trafford, saying: “He said that, that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League. He said this if you read the article very well.

“He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester, so everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to have an opinion, it is okay.”

The Dutchman added: “It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are and what we have to do. I have said before we are still in a transition period and we have to integrate a lot of young players in the team. We still have to deal with injuries and bring players back into the team.”

Ronaldo: Ten Hag should listen to Van Nistelrooy to save job

United have had a slow start to the season, losing two of their opening three Premier League games, however Ten Hag has refused to panic, insisting he will ‘see’ where his side are in May.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, reiterated his belief that United ‘need to rebuild everything’ while on Ferdinand’s podcast but also believed the presence of his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined Ten Hag’s coaching staff this summer, could help things.

READ MORE: Sir Jim Ratcliffe chooses his replacement for Ten Hag

“(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the League or Champions League,” Ronaldo said.

“You have to be, to mentally say, listen, maybe we don't have that potential, but I cannot say that. We're going to try. You have to try.”

“If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can (help himself),” he added. “I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen (to) the guys who were there.”