Ten Hag’s response to Ronaldo’s criticism: “He is far from Manchester.”
Sudan Events – Agencies
Dutch Manchester United coach, Erik ten Hag, responded to the criticism from his former player, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, saying that the five-time world player of the year is “far from Manchester.”
The relationship between the two men has not been good at all, as Ronaldo decided to end his second stint at United and move to the Saudi league at the beginning of 2023 to play for Al-Nassr due to a disagreement with the Dutch coach.
The 39-year-old Portuguese captain returned to criticize the Dutch coach this week, saying in an episode of the “Rio Ferdinand Presents” podcast that “Manchester needs to rebuild everything, in my opinion.”
He added, “The coach says they can’t compete to win the league and the Champions League. As the coach of Manchester United, you can’t say that you won’t fight to win the league or the Champions League.”
The “Red Devils” finished eighth in the league last season, their lowest ranking since 1990, and were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage.
Ronaldo believes that his former club needs radical changes, but he thinks that Ten Hag should not rule out winning major titles at the same time.
After winning both the FA Cup and the League Cup, Ten Hag said he is “fully confident” of winning more titles, but also noted that his team is “still far” from being ready to win the league title, which has been absent since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus star continued: “This club needs time to rebuild because it is still one of the best clubs in the world, but it needs change.”
When asked on Thursday about Ronaldo’s comments, Ten Hag responded in a press conference: “He said Manchester United can’t win the Premier League. He said that if you read the article carefully. He is far away in Saudi Arabia, far from Manchester. Everyone has the right to their opinion. It’s okay.”
Ronaldo’s interview came after an international break that followed United’s humiliating 3-0 home defeat to their fierce rival Liverpool.
But Ten Hag said it didn’t affect him, insisting that “this doesn’t affect me. I know where we are in this process, what we need to do, and where we’re heading. I’ve said before, we are still in a transitional phase. We need to integrate many young players into the team.”
He continued: “We are still dealing with injuries, and we need to get the injured players back into the team. Before anyone thinks about excuses, we have to win every match. I know that, the team knows that, and it doesn’t matter who is available (to play). We will focus on every match, and we need to have the mentality that we must win each game.”
The 20-time league champion, who faces Southampton away on Saturday, has lost two of his first three league matches this season.
Luke Shaw and Denmark’s Rasmus Højlund are still sidelined, but new Uruguayan signing Manuel Ugarte might play for the first time after participating with his national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
