Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo speaks to manager Erik ten Hag during a training session at the Aon Training Complex, Greater Manchester. Picture date: Wednesday September 14, 2022. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
Former Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag insisted the Red Devils being relegated from the Premier League is “certainly possible” as he also delivered a blunt assessment of Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford.
United have endured a nightmare start to 2026-27, with the Premier League giants winning just one of their opening nine league fixtures to sit above the relegation zone on goal difference following a 2-0 loss at Chelsea on Saturday.
The fallen giants are in the midst of a nine-game winless streak across all competitions and their worst start to a league season in 40 years as pressure intensifies on head coach Michael Carrick.
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United have not been relegated since 1974 but Ten Hag, who coached the club between April 2022 and November 2024, told ESPN: “In the Premier League it’s certainly possible, because all the teams are simply strong.
“They’re all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle — yes, then it can become very, very difficult.”
Ten Hag, an EFL Cup and FA Cup winner with United, also provided a brutal verdict on five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored 27 goals in 54 games during his second spell at United after arriving from Serie A powerhouse Juventus in 2021.
But the Portuguese icon found himself on the outer under Ten Hag before eventually moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023, having terminated his United contract in November 2022.
Ronaldo was critical of Ten Hag at the time and the Dutchman, who is now technical director of Eredivisie outfit FC Twente, told ESPN: “The challenge is to get the team functioning, really as always. Every player is important in that and you need top players to be able to win.
“Every top team must embrace the top player, but the top player must work for the team. And that was simply the problem with Ronaldo.”
Ten Hag continued: “The players wanted to work for him and they looked up to him because let there be no misunderstanding about that.
“He is of course a tremendous player, one of the greats of all time. But that is also the reality over the last seven, eight years he simply can no longer deliver. From Juventus onwards it’s simply over.
“And that is actually the great gift of Real Madrid — they always know when to say goodbye to players at the right moment. They recognise when a player’s level is declining and they say goodbye at a moment when to the outside world, they still appear to be at their peak. But they can no longer actually deliver.”
“I naturally gave him a special status,” Ten Hag said. “I also went to him, I spoke to him prior to that job, I explained to him how we were going to play, what his role in that would be, what I expected of him, and what he could expect from me and from the team. But ultimately you also have to deliver yourself and he was no longer capable of pushing himself to the limit.
“As I just said, he could no longer bring himself to push through the pain, to give everything every single day and to train at his maximum in order to get fit. And if you’re not fit in the Premier League, Champions League, or with the Portuguese national team, well, then you simply have no chance.”
“If you can’t do it, well, then the laws of the Premier League are merciless,” he added. Then you can no longer keep up, you are no longer able to get into the box. He can still finish a chance, you still see that. But to get into that power and intensity of the Premier League, that’s no longer possible. For that you need to be fit.”
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