Cristiano Ronaldo has rehashed his feud with Erik ten Hag, accusing the Dutchman of saying something a Manchester United manager should never utter while criticizing the state of the club under his tutelage.
The pair infamously fell out nearly two years ago after the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, then at Old Trafford for his second stint, held a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan in which he slammed the manager and the club.
The Portuguese icon's contract was ultimately terminated, thus paving the way for his move to the Saudi Pro League, joining his current team Al Nassr for free.
The 39-year-old has achieved several personal milestones since leaving the Theatre of Dreams for a second time, including scoring his 900th career goal on Thursday. However, he revisited the topic of Manchester United in a recent sit-down on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
"As I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion," Ronaldo said. "The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the League and Champions League."
The comments appear to be a direct criticism of Ten Hag's assessment of the current Manchester United squad. The Dutch manager has previously expressed his belief that the team is still a work in progress and that they need time to rebuild and compete at the highest level.
Ronaldo, however, disagrees with this assessment. "As a Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the League or Champions League," he insisted. "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."
This comes after the Red Devils kicked off the 2024-25 Premier League season with two defeats in their first three games, losing 2-1 away to Brighton on Matchday 2 before being embarrassed at home in a 3-0 loss to Liverpool right before the break.
Ten Hag was defiant following the Liverpool defeat, arguing that his team will be fine once the new signings acclimatize and the injured players return to fitness.
Nonetheless, questions continue to be asked about the Dutchman's managerial skills as Manchester United risk suffering another disappointing campaign, finishing eighth in the league last season.
