Erik ten Hag has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo by pointing out that the Portuguese admitted Manchester United are not well placed to win the biggest trophies this season despite criticising the manager for stating the same. In a pre-season interview Ten Hag discussed United’s chances of winning the Premier League and Champions League. "We are really a long way away from that," he told the Dutch outlet AD Sportwereld. Ronaldo criticised this apparent lack of ambition on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, saying: "You cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League". But Ronaldo then effectively contradicted himself. "They can win the Carabao [Cup] – Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult." Ten Hag was asked about Ronaldo’s claim that the manager should not say the club cannot win the league. "No, he said this, if you read the article very well. He is far away in Saudi. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. It is OK."