Erik ten Hag rejects Ronaldo criticism as Man Utd boss accused of comment 'you can't say'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has rejected recent criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo.

The pair did not see eye to eye during their time together at Old Trafford, which led to the striker seeing his contract at the club terminated in November 2022 following a tell-all interview which saw the former Real Madrid star take aim at his manager.

Ronaldo has since spoken openly about the breakdown in his relationship with Ten Hag, and the Al-Nassr striker has now accused the ex-Ajax boss of not embodying the optimism and positivity required at the Red Devils given the reputation of the club.

Ronaldo claimed: “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.”

Despite the eyebrow-raising criticism, Ten Hag insisted that Ronaldo was ‘entitled’ to have an opinion, regardless of whether he agreed with it or not.

Speaking on Thursday, the Dutchman explained: “He said that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League. He said this if you read the article very well. He’s far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester. Everyone can have an opinion. It’s okay.”

The Red Devils have endured a tricky start to the campaign, winning their opening game of the season against Fulham before being beaten 2-1 by Brighton and then put to the sword by Liverpool in a 3-0 defeat.

The performances have led to questions being raised about Ten Hag already, but the 54-year-old has said that he remains unaffected by the criticism from elsewhere.

He continued: “It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are, what we have to do, where we are going. We are still in a transition process, we have to integrate a lot of young players. 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 this. We will focus on every game and have in every game the mindset we have to win.”