“Ronaldo is right about what he says” - Ex-Manchester United defender backs Cristiano Ronaldo claim questioning Ten Hag
Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has backed Cristiano Ronaldo's comments questioning Erik ten Hag's mentality. The legendary Portuguese forward had spoken about his former club and manager during a conversation with Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel UR Cristiano.
Ronaldo questioned the club's direction under Erik ten Hag (via GOAL):
"The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League. [If you are] Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League."
"You have to be, to mentally say, ‘listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try.’ You have to try.”
Paul Parker has acknowledged that Ronaldo made a strong point. In a conversation with GOAL, the former defender said:
"I think Ronaldo is right about what he says about Manchester United. I am very much like that myself about United."
"I’m going back quite a few years, and football has changed so much now and there are no given rights now for the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool – they are still respected and they need to be winning things, but there is no given right that they should be winning Champions Leagues and league titles."
The Red Devils currently sit in 10th place on the Premier League table, while competing continentally in the Europa League, rather than the Champions League.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag responds to Cristiano Ronaldo's comments
Cristiano Ronaldo unceremoniously left Old Trafford in November 2022, after he had rejoined the club in the summer of 2021 to much fanfare. The club struggled through a series of interim managers before landing on Erik ten Hag, who clashed with the legendary forward in his first season in charge.
Now, Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, but that has not kept him from speaking about his old club. However, when Ten Hag was asked about the forward's comments regarding his mentality, the Dutch manager said (via Sky Sports):
"He said that Manchester United can't win the Premier League. No, he said this if you read the article very well. So he's far away in Saudi, far from Manchester. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. It's OK."
Erik ten Hag's focus will be on the upcoming weekend, as he prepares to lead the Red Devils to face Crystal Palace on September 21. Cristiano Ronaldo has a match with Al-Nassr against Al-Ettifaq a day earlier on September 20.