Cristiano Ronaldo has some helpful advice for Erik ten Hag

Cristiano Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag didn’t exactly get along at Manchester United, with the Dutch manager pushing the club legend out of Old Trafford in the 2022/23 season.

Ten Hag seemed to be vindicated when the Red Devils finished third in the Premier League and returned to the Champions League, but after finishing eighth last season, it’s clear that Man United have work to do under ten Hag.

With Man United struggling to find the back of the net, disrespecting a player who had 18 goals in the 2021/22 season may not have been the wisest course of action.

Cristiano is still banging the goals for Portugal and Al-Nassr, and he’s enjoying his life off the pitch, too, with a new YouTube channel, working on what’s next for his career after football is over.

And he has advice for Manchester United and ten Hag, out of love for the club and a desire to, like any true fan of Manchester United, see the most powerful club in England rise back to the top.

His advice to ten Hag is simple. Trust the former club legends, including his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy, hired by INEOS as ten Hag’s assistant (and maybe even future replacement):

“If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy… maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen the guys who were there. Rio, Roy Keane, Scholes, Gary Neville, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot, you cannot rebuild a club without knowledge”.

That is a who’s who of Manchester United icons, all of whom know a ton about the game and have proven themselves at the top level much, much more than ten Hag has.

Of course, ten Hag could have listened to a different Manchester United icon who was in his team, Cristiano Ronaldo himself, but maybe the Man United manager can learn from his mistakes.

By the way, ten Hag has an extra reason to pay attention. Van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t get along at first at Manchester United because RvN got frustrated with the new kid on the block delaying his deliveries.

But van Nistelrooy grew to respect Cristiano’s quality, and Ronaldo himself changed his game to help the veteran striker more. Now that two have a mutual respect, which is reflected in these comments from Ronaldo.

So maybe ten Hag can learn to respect Cristiano, too. Time will tell. But Cristiano won’t care. He has his own club and life to live. Those within the club like Ruud van Nistelrooy, however, will have a much more vested interest in ten Hag finally putting the club before his ego.