Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism has not eased the pressure on Erik ten Hag. In his counter-attack, Manchester United’s coach points to one particular sentence from the Portuguese
An interview with Cristiano Ronaldo was certainly not on Erik ten Hag’s wish list for the international break. As expected, the 39-year-old Portuguese was not sparing with his criticism of Manchester United’s coach, who promoted him from the club almost two years ago, during his visit to ex-professional Rio Ferdinand’s podcast.
Having already emphasized at the time that he did not respect ten Hag, this time CR7 accused him of not having the right mindset to work at a club like England’s record champions. “As a Manchester United coach, you can’t say you’re not going to fight for the league title or the Champions League,” he said, among other things, advising ten Hag to listen to assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, who knows the club from more than just the office.
Ten Hag’s counterattack was not long in coming – because he was, of course, confronted with Cristiano Ronaldo’s statements ahead of this Saturday’s Premier League visit to promoted Southampton FC . “He’s far away in Saudi Arabia, far away from Manchester,” the coach said at first. “Everyone can have an opinion, that’s okay.”
At the same time, ten Hag pointed out a sentence that Cristiano Ronaldo had also said during his podcast appearance: “You can win the League Cup, yes, but the Champions League, Europa League or Premier League – difficult in my opinion. I wish I was wrong.” So those were not his words at all, but rather Cristiano Ronaldo’s, countered ten Hag: “He said that. ”
Ugarte ahead of debut – De Ligt back in the starting eleven?
In principle, the current background noise and the pressure on him after just three points from three games did not affect him. “I know where we are and where we are going,” said ten Hag. “We are in a transitional phase, we have to integrate a lot of young players into the team, we have to get the injured back. But before anyone thinks of excuses: we have to win every game, I know that, the team knows that. No matter who is available. We have the mindset that we have to win. “
At Southampton, ten Hag will again be without the injured Luke Shaw, Rasmus Höjlund, Victor Lindelöf, Leny Yoro, Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia. Last-minute addition Manuel Ugarte could make his debut, even though he only returned from Uruguay’s national team on Thursday. Matthijs de Ligt is expected to be in the starting eleven despite his bitter international performances like in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool
