Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo criticism over his ambition

Erik ten Hag on Thursday brushed aside Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism about his ambition at struggling Manchester United, saying the Portugal star is “far from Manchester”.
Ronaldo’s second spell at United ended in a high-profile break-up in November 2022 after he made stinging comments about his Dutch boss. The 39-year-old Al Nassr player again hit out at Ten Hag this week, saying his attitude was too negative for a club of the stature of United.
Ronaldo told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast: “Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the (Premier) 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.”
He also said the club need to “rebuild everything” and that it “will be difficult” for them to challenge for the biggest trophies. Ferdinand was a teammate of Ronaldo’s during his trophy-laden first spell at United, from 2003 to 2009.
Ten Hag has said he is “quite confident” of claiming more silverware this campaign after lifting the League Cup and FA Cup over the past two seasons. But he said in July his team are a “long way away” from being ready to win the Premier League, with United not crowned champions of England since Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge in 2013.
When Ronaldo’s comments about his mentality were put to him at a Thursday’s press conference, Ten Hag said: “He said that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League. No, he said this if you read the article very well. So, he’s far away in Saudi, far from Manchester. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. It’s OK.”
Ronaldo’s interview came after an international break that immediately followed United’s humiliating 3-0 loss at home to bitter rivals Liverpool. But Ten Hag said he did not let it affect him.
“It doesn’t impact me,” he insisted. “I know in the process where we are, what we have to do, where we are going. I have said before we are still in a transition period. We have to integrate a lot of young players also in the team. We are still dealing with injuries, we have to bring the injuries back in the team. Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that, the team knows this and it doesn’t matter who is available. We will focus on every game and have in every game the mindset that we have to win.”
United upset Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May but they endured their worst Premier League campaign last term, finishing eighth. The 20-time English champions, who travel to Southampton tomorrow, have lost two of their opening three league matches this season. Luke Shaw and Rasmus Hojlund remain sidelined but new signing Manuel Ugarte could make his debut after playing for Uruguay in midweek.
Despite the poor results, the manager says that the team is going in the right direction. “Of course, when you see the scores no-one is happy and also the players have a very good sense of the quality of the process,” Ten Hag said. “Also, when you analyse the games, all the games so far, we are in a good direction. When you are in a transition period and have to build the team we have to improve and step up. We will see where we are in May next year, it’s very early in the season.”
The manager said that neither forward Hojlund or defender Shaw were available for the trip to Southampton. Both players have yet to make an appearance this season through injury, but are progressing well. Midfielder Manuel Ugarte, however, could make his debut after signing from Paris St Germain on deadline day, despite only returning from international duty with Uruguay on Thursday. United are 14th in the standings on three points while Southampton are second from bottom and yet to win a point this season.