Erik ten Hag snaps back at old foe Cristiano Ronaldo's Man Utd 'lack of ambition' claim
Former United star Ronaldo, now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr, claimed Ten Hag should not be publicly stating that United cannot compete for the Premier League and Champions League.
Erik ten Hag has dismissed Cristiano Ronaldo's jibe that he lacks ambition for claiming Manchester United cannot win the biggest trophies.
Ronaldo, who fell out spectacularly with Ten Hag in his second spell at United, leading to his acrimonious exit, reignited his feud with his former boss.
Former United star Ronaldo, now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr, claimed Ten Hag should not be publicly stating that United cannot compete for the Premier League and Champions League.
Responding to Ronaldo's claim that Ten Hag had said United could not compete for the top prizes, the Old Trafford boss said: “No, 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, so it's okay
“We will see where we are in May next year. It's very early in the season and it's about winning trophies, being as high as possible in the league, doing everything to win every game and then we will see in May where we are in the league.”
Ten Hag is under increasing pressure, after United suffered back-to-back defeats, leaving them 14th in the Premier League. United travel to Southampton on Saturday, with Ten Hag admitting the team must get back to winning ways to halt their early season slide.
“It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are,” said Ten Hag. “And I know 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.
“When you see the scores, no-one is happy and that also players have a very good sense of the process of the quality of the process.
“When you analyse all the games so far we are in a good direction, but also, it is normal in a transition period when you build a team that you have to improve and step up
“We have good characters, the team spirit, now it is about to get the patterns and routines in so everyone sees the quality we have.
On the players available for selection at the weekend, Ten Hag said: “Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw, they are progressing very well, but they are not ready for this game.
“Manuel Ugarte, we all have seen he played for Uruguay, he returned this afternoon. He was the only player who returned today, all the others returned yesterday so he is available for this game.”
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