Erik ten Hag has addressed criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo, who questioned his ambition as Manchester United manager.
Ronaldo, a former United star, reignited his feud with Ten Hag by suggesting that no Man United manager should publicly concede that their team cannot win the Premier League or the Champions League.
In response, Ten Hag implied that Ronaldo, now playing for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, may be out of touch with the current situation at Old Trafford.
He also noted that Ronaldo had previously made similar comments about United’s prospects during a podcast hosted by Rio Ferdinand.
“He said that, that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League,’ said Ten Hag.
“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.’
United have faced a challenging start to the season, having lost two of their first three matches after finishing eighth last term.
Despite this, Ten Hag remains calm, attributing the difficulties to a variety of factors and choosing not to panic at this early stage of the season.
“We will see where we are in May next year,” he added.
“It is very early in the season and it is about winning trophies, being as high as possible in the league, doing everything to win every game.
“It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are and what we have to do.
“I have said before we are still in a transition period and we have to integrate a lot of young players in the team.
“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 that and it doesn’t matter who is available.
“We will focus on every game and approach it with the mindset that we have to win.”
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