Former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo believes the club must “rebuild everything” in order to compete for football’s biggest prizes again as he hits out at his ex-boss Erik ten Hag.
The Al-Nassr attacker has questioned Ten Hag’s mentality after the latter said his team were not ready for the 2024/25 Premier League season ahead of the season’s opener against Fulham on August 16th.
United won 1-0 against the Cottagers, but lost 2-1 at Brighton and Hove Albion and were thrashed 3-0 at home by Liverpool in their next two fixtures.
“The coach says they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League,” he told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, external, which comes out on Thursday.
“As Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.
“Mentally [you can] say maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try, you have to try.
“What I wish for Manchester [United], it’s what I wish for me – [to be] the best team they can.
“I love that club… I’m not that kind of guy that forgot the past.”
Ronaldo added:
“They need to rebuild everything, in my opinion.
“The club needs time to rebuild because it’s still one of the best clubs in the world, but they need to change. They understand that this is the only way.
“This is why they show, they start to change again, the structure of the club, the infrastructures and everything. The owners of the club are investing in the training ground so I’m happy [because things are changing].
“I believe that the future will be bright. I believe, but they don’t depend only on the talents. They have to rebuild from the bottom. If not, they cannot compete. It will be impossible.”
Ronaldo, however, has praised the club’s decision to recruit another former team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy to Ten Hag’s backroom staff.
“If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can [help himself],” he added.
“I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen [to] the guys who were there.
“You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville [or] Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge – not guys who work in [the] office.
“The people who understand the football are the people who were there in the dressing room. They know how to deal with the players.
“So I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club, he knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve a little bit the club.”
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