Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo by suggesting the Portugal forward doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he is “far away from Manchester.”
Ronaldo criticised Ten Hag in a podcast hosted by Rio Ferdinand by saying the United manager should “not say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.”
However, Ten Hag has dismissed the comments while insisting it was Ronaldo who said United cannot win the Premier League title.
Ten Hag, who fell out with Ronaldo during their time together at the club, said: “He said that; That Manchester United can’t win the Premier League.”
“He said this. If you read the article very well. He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester so everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to have an opinion. It is okay.”
Manchester United have won just one of their opening three Premier League game, losing the remainder and Ten Hag is under pressure to deliver a positive result this weekend.
Though the Dutch manager has been backed by CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth, there are claims Ten Hag could be sacked if Man United fail to deliver.
“It doesn’t impact me,” Ten Hag said. “I know in the process where we are, where we’re going. We’re in the transition period, we have to integrate a lot of young players in the team.
“We have to bring the injuries back into the team. Before anyone thinks about excuses, we have to win every game, I know that. The team knows this. We will focus on every game and have the mindset we have to win.”
Speaking of players availability, Ten Hag confirmed that Luke Shaw and Rasmus Højlund won’t feature against Southampton on Saturday as they continue to recover from injuries.
However, new signing Manuel Ugarte could make his debut after returning from international duty on Thursday.
