Cristiano Ronaldo has criticized Erik ten Hag for suggesting that Manchester United isn’t ready to compete for top trophies.
Ten Hag has emphasized that United is still in a transitional phase and requires more time to become a dominant team capable of consistently winning major titles at the highest level.
However, during an appearance on the ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast,’ Ronaldo reignited his feud with the Dutch manager by arguing that such statements send the wrong message for a club that is still considered one of the biggest in the world.
Ronaldo was famously dismissed by United in 2022 after a controversial TV interview where he took aim at Ten Hag and the club’s owners. His second stint at Old Trafford had turned sour, marked by a series of clashes with the manager.
Now he has opened old wounds again with a broadside towards the United manager, who he reckons is doing his former team a disservice. Ronaldo said: “Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion.
“The coach (Ten Hag), they say they cannot compete to win the (Premier) League and Champions League. Manchester United’s 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.”
Ronaldo admits he’s moved on from the fall-out of his United departure and still wishes the club well in the future. 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.”
