Erik ten Hag snaps again at Cristiano Ronaldo with jibe about Saudi

Erik ten Hag has dismissed criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo that he lacks ambition as Manchester United manager.

The former United star reignited his war of words with Ten Hag by saying no United boss should admit his team cannot win the Premier League or Champions League.

But Ten Hag suggested that Ronaldo is out of touch with events at Old Trafford playing for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, and also claimed that the Portugal icon made similar comments about United’s prospects in a podcast hosted by Rio Ferdinand.

‘He said that, that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League,’ said Ten Hag. ‘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.’

United have had a difficult start to the season, losing two of their first three games after finishing eighth last term. But Ten Hag believes there are a number of factors and is refusing to panic so early in the season.

‘We will see where we are in May next year,’ he added. ‘It is very early in the season and it is about winning trophies, being as high as possible in the league, doing everything to win every game.

‘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.

‘Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that. The team knows that and it doesn’t matter who is available. We will focus on every game and approach it with the mindset that we have to win.’

In conversation with Ferdinand, Ronaldo had lashed out at what he perceived to be Ten Hag’s lack of ambition. 

The head coach has previously defended his record winning trophies in Manchester, but the striker found fault in his more defensive comments surrounding Europe’s top flight. 

‘The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League,’ Ronaldo said. 

‘(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the League or Champions League. 

‘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.’

Since Ten Hag took over, United have finished third and eighth in the Premier League, although they have won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in that time, with the Dutchman regularly pointing to his trophy record in English football.

However, things have been far from plain-sailing, with last season’s finish United’s lowest in the Premier League era, while they also crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage.

There was significant speculation over Ten Hag’s future in the summer before the INEOS-led footballing structure decided to stick with him.

He was then backed with reinforcements in the transfer market and also within his coaching staff, which included the arrival former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

And Ronaldo felt that the appointment of the Dutchman – who scored 150 goals for the club in 219 games – was a step in the right direction, but he still offered a thinly-veiled dig at Ten Hag in the process.

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

‘You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot, you cannot rebuild a club without knowledge. Not guys who work in office. They understand. 

‘The people who understand the football, it was, 99 per cent is the people who were there in the dressing room. They know how to deal with the players. It’s the people who understand these things. 

‘So I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club. He knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve a little bit the club.’

Despite the hints at positivity, Ronaldo reaffirmed his views that United – who have not won the Premier League in 11 years – still have a long way to go to get back to the top, with the 39-year-old hugely damning of the club when he conducted a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan shortly before leaving the club in 2022.

In the conversation with Morgan, Ronaldo had hit out at the lack of progress surrounding the club’s infrastructure, something that has improved since the appointments of Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox to the new football structure after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s partial takeover of the club last year.

He added: ‘This club needs time to rebuild because it’s still one of the best clubs in the world, but they need to change. They understand that. This is the only way. 

‘This is why they show, they start to change again, the structure of the club, the president, the infrastructures and everything. The owners of the club. 

‘They’re investing in the training ground…So I’m happy because [things are changing]. I’m not happy the way it all happened, but in the same way, we cannot control some points of our life sometimes, but it’s done, already done.’