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Erik ten Hag shrugged off criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo by saying that the Portuguese star is far away from Manchester and implying he is out of touch with events at his old club.
Ronaldo, whose contract at Old Trafford was terminated in 2022 after falling out with Ten Hag, had revived his feud with the Dutchman in an interview with Rio Ferdinand in which he took issue with the manager’s summer comments that Manchester United are a “long way” from winning the Premier and Champions Leagues.
But while Ten Hag insisted Ronaldo was allowed to have his view, he argued the Portuguese, who claimed United needed to rebuild from the bottom up, was dismissing United’s chances.
“No, he said that, that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League, if you read the article very well,” he said. “He is far away in Saudi [Arabia], far away from Manchester. Everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to an opinion, it is OK.”
United are only 14th in the table after losing their last two games and will still be without the injured Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw for Saturday’s trip to Southampton, though Manuel Ugarte could make his debut after his deadline-day arrival.
Ten Hag nevertheless feels his side are on the right track and said that injuries or being in transition is never an excuse for United if they fail to win.
He explained: “It is very early in the season and it is about winning trophies, being as high as possible in the league, do everything to win every game and then we will see in May where we are in the league.
“I know in the process where we are. And what we have to do. Where we are going, I have said before we are still in a transition period, 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.”