Cristiano Ronaldo fires shots at Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag in brutal interview - 'You cannot say'

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has fired shots at Erik ten Hag in a new interview following their difficult spell at Manchester United together

UR/RONALDO
Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 11/09/2024

- 11:49

The 39-year-old was offloaded by the Dutchman back in November 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo has fired shots at Erik ten Hag in a new interview following their difficult spell at Manchester United together.

The Portugal international returned to Old Trafford for a second stint in 2021, having been snapped up by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.


A year on and Ronaldo would be strutting his stuff under Ten Hag, who was hired as Solskjaer's permanent replacement following a disastrous interim reign for Ralf Rangnick.

In November 2022, Ronaldo was cut loose by Ten Hag after criticising the Dutchman and the club in an interview.

Cristiano Ronaldo Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo has fired shots at Erik ten Hag in a new interview following their difficult spell at Manchester United together

UR/RONALDO

Despite being a United legend, the Portugal international was shown the door after many felt he'd overstepped the mark.

Now, speaking on Rio Ferdinand's Five YouTube channel, Ronaldo has taken aim at Ten Hag for saying that United can't currently compete for the biggest titles and trophies on offer.

“Manchester United, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion," he said.

"The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the Premier League and Champions League.

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"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.'"

One person back at United these days is Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Dutchman spent five years with the Red Devils between 2001 and 2006, scoring 150 goals during that time.

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And Ronaldo hopes Van Nistelrooy being at United can help the fallen giants improve to become a major force once again.

"If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can help the club," added the Al-Nassr star. "I think he can help a lot.

"And the club should listen to the players who played there. You [Rio Ferdinand] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whoever it is, Sir Alex Ferguson.

"You can't rebuild a club you don't understand."

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Cristiano Ronaldo Erik ten Hag Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag often clashed during their time at Man Utd together

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Ten Hag has won two trophies at United since showing Ronaldo the door.

He steered the Red Devils to Carabao Cup glory in 2023, with United beating Newcastle 2-0 in the final of that competition courtesy of goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.

And the 54-year-old's team beat Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley to win the FA Cup in May following efforts from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.

Ronaldo thinks United could yet win silverware - but can't see them claiming either the Premier League or Champions League this term.

Cristiano Ronaldo Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo left Man Utd under a cloud back in November 22 after falling out with Erik ten Hag

PA

"I believe that the future will be bright. I believe, but they don't depend only on the talents. It's more than that," he stated.

"It's all club, all, not only players, club, everything as a unit, united. You know?

"They have to rebuild from the bottom. If not, they cannot compete. It will be impossible.

"They can do good things, yes, they can win Carabao, yeah, but I mean, Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult, in my opinion. And I wish that I'm wrong, I wish, but will be difficult."

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