‘You cannot say that’ – Cristiano Ronaldo tears into Erik ten Hag for his conduct as Man Utd boss & instructs him to ‘listen’ to Ruud van Nistelrooy if he wants to save his job

Despite a bitter departure in 2022, the Al-Nassr forward claimed in his conversation with Ferdinand that he ‘still loves’ Manchester United. However, it’s clear he feels frustrated by the club’s current direction of travel. In the interview, he stated that a major ‘rebuilding’ project needed to take place, and he had some choice words for the man at the helm.

• WHAT RONALDO SAID

  “As I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion,” Ronaldo said. Criticising Ten Hag’s attitude, he added: “The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League. (As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the League or Champions League. If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can (help himself). I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen (to) the guys who were there.

  “You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot, you cannot rebuild a club without knowledge. Not guys who work in office. They understand. The people who understand the football, it was, 99 per cent is the people who were there in the dressing room. They know how to deal with the players. It’s the people who understand these things. So I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club. He knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve a little bit the club.”

• Imago

  WHAT NEXT FOR TEN HAG?

  The Manchester United boss likely won’t pay much attention to Ronaldo’s comments; he’ll be far too busy attempting to turn around his team’s underwhelming start to the new campaign. The Red Devils upcoming fixture against Southampton has been labelled a ‘must-win’ match, with the Dutchman reportedly being warned that a loss would make his position ‘untenable’.