The goat spoke to ex-legend and team-mate Rio Ferdinand about what he thinks about Man Utd's current state.
CR7 left the club in one of the most disappointing manners after doing that explosive interview with Piers Morgan right before the 2022 World Cup.
In that interview, he let it all out and left no stone unturned as he laid siege to the owners (The Glazers), the club infrastructure, some of the young players, interim boss Ralf Rangnick and of course, Erik ten Hag.
A couple of years later, and he's talking openly about the club, it's new hierarchy and the manager once again although it is a lot calmer despite some of his eye-opening comments.
"To be honest with you, what I wish for Manchester, it's what I wish for me. The best they can make, again the best team they can and I love that club, you know, I'm not, I'm not that kind of guy that forgot the past" - says Ronaldo.
Even though he parted ways with the club in that ugly manner, he has always said that he still and will always love MUFC.
"But as I told you, Manchester, 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."
"They start to change again, the structure of the club, the president, the infrastructures and everything. The owners of the club. They're investing in the training ground... So l'm happy because [things are changing]."
I think we are in the process of that at the moment. With INEOS coming in and giving Erik ten Hag a new and improved football structure, the plans they have for the stadium and surrounding area, and what they want to do with the training ground, this rebuild has already begun.
On Erik ten Hag, whom we know the goat had a problem with, he said:
"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. Were going to try. You have to try."
To an extent, I agree with Ronaldo. I'm not exactly sure when Erik ten Hag said that we're not going to fight to win the league or Champions League but if he did, then I don't agree with that.
However, what the manager has always said is that we need to keep to the standard of our club and that we want to win every game. Do that and we will win the league.
Erik ten Hag should've rather said that while we know that we may struggle to win those competitions, we should still try to do so.
Ronaldo has to also remember that his mentality is different to that of everybody else. That's what's made him who he is. Even if the rest of us don't think something is possible, Ronaldo himself will and he'll try everything he can to achieve it.
Not everyone thinks in this way.
What I do also think is that ten Hag is trying to be realistic about our goals and ambitions. While yes, he would like to win and perhaps even compete for the big trophies, looking at where we are, we are nowhere near that so we have to be realistic about our current position.
Maybe he just delivered his message in the wrong way 🤷♂️.
On youngsters, Ronaldo says that he "believes that the future will be bright" but that it's not just about the "talents" but rather that the club has to work together, "everything as a unit, united."
He did complain about how some of the younger players weren't displaying the type of mentality needed to play for a club like ours nor the mentality he showed when he was a youngster at United. He would've liked to have seen more from them.
But perhaps this new crop of young players gives him hope that which he didn't have when he was at the club the second time round. Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho (Ronaldo's number one fan) and Rasmus Hojlund all showcase a talent but more importantly, the mindset needed to make it at United. Ronaldo would've probably preferred this young group over the one he had at 2-3 years ago. I don't doubt that these three youngsters in particular would've been surrounding CR7 all day picking his brains about football, training, mindset and so on.
But he's also right when saying that it needs to be a collective solution rather than one based on the talent of the players, young or old. The players do need to be good but the club also needs to provide the right atmosphere, training facilities, best players for the manager and overall infrastructure and feeling that they want the best for United.
I believe that INEOS are on the way to making that happen.
Ronaldo talks about another of his former United team-mates who's now the assistant to Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy, as well as a few others:
"If ten Hag listen to Ruud, maybe he can. I think it can help a lot because he knows the club and the club should listen the guys who were there. You [Rio] or Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson."
"The people who understand the football, it was, 99% is the people who was there in the dressing room, who was player, who was the most successful coaches in the world."
"Guardiola, Ferguson, they were players before, they were in dressing the room. They understand. They know how to deal with the players. It's the people who understand these things."
"I believe that Ruud is going to help because he was inside the club. He knows the club."
I'm sure that Erik ten Hag listens to Ruud, that's kind of what an assistant coach is there for. But I do agree with the fact that van Nistelrooy will know the club pretty well after having been one of our greatest-ever goal scorers. He knows exactly what it takes to succeed at MUFC.
As we also struggle up front, Ruud is perhaps the ideal man to help us in attack. ten Hag will surely listen to him here and let Ruud do his thing because he has more knowledge about what it takes to put the ball in the back of the net compared to ten Hag.
It's funny to hear Ronaldo speaks highly of an ex-team-mate that he had a fallout with at the club and resulted in van Nistelrooy's departure. Even mentioning Gary Neville is a bit funny as Ronaldo isn't a big fun of his former captain's punditry and comments.
It is also always good to have people who have been involved with football and the club working with the United to try and restore it to it's former glory. That isn't always going to happen as they could fail (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) and those that have had nothing to do with the club could succeed (Sir Alex Ferguson).
Jose Mourinho wasn't a player nor did he have any previous with United yet he is still the most successful manager post Sir Alex.
That statement is not entirely true although it can perhaps help the club more than those who weren't involved before.
As for him saying that coaches like Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex who played the game, have a better understanding of the dressing room because they were players, is true as well but it comes off as if ex-players are the only ones who can understand this and that anyone who hasn't played can't.
That's the part I disagree with as most of the best coaches, even if they played at some level, weren't the best of players nor played for the biggest clubs.
Any coach can do it. This is also where the likes of assistants come in as they can bring in a knowledge and experience that the manager himself may not have.
Quotes via The United Stand on X.
Final Thoughts
We all know that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't like Erik ten Hag. He said he doesn't respect him in that Piers Morgan interview so it isn't surprising that he didn't have anything positive to say about him.
However, a lot of what he said is true, similar to that Morgan interview a couple of years ago. The club does need time to rebuild, we do have bright youngsters, it does help when you have ex pros who've been there and done it.
It's very interesting to hear what he has to say but what are your thoughts about the goat's comments? Agree with what he said or not?
Background Image: Erik ten Hag speaking to Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Dalot and Donny van de Beek during a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa (22/23) | Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images - The Busby Babe