Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo: ‘He is far away’

MANCHESTER, England — Erik ten Hag has aimed a barb 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.”

Ten Hag, however, has dismissed the comments while insisting it was Ronaldo who said United cannot win the Premier League title.

“He said that; That Manchester United can’t win the Premier League,” Ten Hag, who fell out with Ronaldo during their time together at the club, said.

“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 OK.”

Ten Hag is under pressure ahead of the trip to Southampton on Saturday following the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool before the international break.

CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth have both publicly backed the Dutchman. But that hasn’t stopped speculation that the former Ajax boss could be replaced at Old Trafford just months after his contract was extended until 2026.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Ten Hag has confirmed that Luke Shaw and Rasmus Højlund won’t feature against Southampton on Saturday as they continue to recover from injuries.

New signing Manuel Ugarte could make his debut after returning from international duty on Thursday.