Erik ten Hag rejects Ronaldo’s criticism over ambition of Man United

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has dismissed Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism. Additionally, he says that noise from outside is not a bother to him.

While speaking on a podcast to former Man United defender, Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo said Ten Hag had been wrong to say in a pre-season interview in the manager’s home country of the Netherlands that the club were “a long way away” from winning the Premier League for the first time since 2013.

Even though Ronaldo himself also went on to say that he also thought that his former club was a long way from winning the championship, he felt, as a manager, Ten Hag was sending out the wrong message.

Asked about the veteran forward’s comments ahead of Saturday’s trip to Southampton, Ten Hag said Ronaldo had said the same thing.

“No, he said this, if you read the article very well,” said Ten Hag.

“He is entitled to his opinion. It’s OK. He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester.”

Ten Hag’s team has had a bad start

Manchester United has suffered back-to-back defeats from Brighton and Liverpool. Man United travel to Southampton knowing very well that a defeat could lead to a condemnation from their huge fanbase. This could lead them to their worst start since the 1986-87 season. That season led to the sacking of Ron Atkinson and he was replaced by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ten Hag confirmed that United’s left back, Luke Shaw is still not available for the Red Devils. This however is after the defender made 3 appearances for the Three Lions during the Euro 2024 tournament.

Striker Rasmus Hojlund will also miss the game as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained during the summer tour of the United States.

New signing Manuel Ugarte is fit, although the £50.2m Uruguay midfielder only returned from international duty on Thursday.

Ten Hag’s Future

The two-week break since the defeat by Liverpool at Old Trafford has seen the manager’s future and fate widely discussed. Many outside observers are convinced the 54-year-old will not survive the entire season. This comes when co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe starts to make his presence felt.

Ten Hag, returned home to take charge of old club FC Utrecht in a charity game earlier this week. He however said the outside “noise” does not bother him. “It doesn’t impact me,” he said. “I know where we are in the process and what we have to do and where we are going.

“I have said before we are still in a transition period. We have to integrate a lot of young players in the team and 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. It doesn’t matter who is available.”

Read about Ronaldo’s record-breaking 900th goal here.