Cristiano Ronaldo is right! Man Utd urged to keep chasing the big trophies - but sacking Erik ten Hag isn't the answer

Questions continue to be asked of how long a Dutch coach at Old Trafford will be sticking around – despite his contract being extended over the summer. Ten Hag has won a trophy in each of his two seasons in England – the Carabao Cup and FA Cup – but the Red Devils continue to struggle for consistency amid talk of long-term plans overshadowing short-term ambition.

United legend Ronaldo recently told Rio Ferdinand during a discussion on his new ‘UR Cristiano’ YouTube channel: “The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League. [If you are] Manchester United coach, 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. We’re going to try.’ You have to try.”

With Ten Hag reining in ambition, while Ronaldo talks it up, who is right and what does success look like for United in the immediate future? GOAL put that question to Paul Parker, with the former Red Devils defender – speaking in association with William Hill Vegas – saying: “I think Ronaldo is right about what he says about Manchester United. I am very much like that myself about United. I’m going back quite a few years, and football has changed so much now and there are no given rights now for the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool – they are still respected and they need to be winning things, but there is no given right that they should be winning Champions Leagues and league titles.

“Expectations are there, they are always going to be there, but as time goes on, in another decade’s time, if United have won a title – I don’t think I’d want to bet on it, to be perfectly honest – the new generation are not going to relate to the fact of Manchester United should be doing this. I was fortunate that I was at United when they won their first title in 26 years. But it was still there, that buzz, it was all about Manchester United winning a title. I think the whole country took it on board, not that it’s got to happen, but let’s wait and see if it is going to happen. Yes, there were people that didn’t enjoy it when we won it – namely from 40 miles up the road – but there were a lot of fans, the older generation that had been through that time – through the good times – were able to see it again, namely one person who passed just after in Matt Busby.”

Parker added on the collective mindset at Old Trafford, which has been impacted by an 11-year title drought since legendary former boss Sir Alex Ferguson headed into retirement back in 2013: “Would it be the same again? We are talking 11 years, if we were to talk about it in another 15 years, would it be exactly the same as it was? That same kind of buzz? Would the fans have it that way? I don’t know if they will because we are so quick to dispense with history, I don’t know if that generation will grab onto it.

“Are they really demanding it? I’m not taking that it’s just going to happen. For me, for United to win something is always a step forward. The position that United are in, before it was talking about they should always be up there in that one and two, look at the now and they are fighting to finish in the top four. There are only so many trophies to win and United are not really in contention to win trophy one or two, they are having to look at three and four at this moment.”

Ten Hag is now under contract through to 2026. There have been suggestions that he could be a dead man walking, with the United board waiting on an excuse to pull the trigger, but Parker does not think that should be the case. He said when asked if Ten Hag is on borrowed time or remains a viable long-term solution: “I don’t think I could come up with something enough for the latter, but I don’t believe, or want to believe, that he’s a dead man walking. I still believe that you can’t have anyone trying to do a job in that position.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who want to say that and want him to lose his job. They see something different – not in the fact that they want a different manager because it benefits the team, I think it’s more about people who want it because it makes another story about Manchester United. It’s another manager gone and they can relate back to 2013, when Sir Alex retired, and that’s how they sell it and look at it. There is no-one out there who is saying it for the good of Manchester United, it’s for the good of themselves to talk about Manchester United.”

United have picked up six points from four Premier League games this season, while making their way into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. They will be back in action on Saturday when taking in a trip to Crystal Palace, before then opening their 2024-25 Europa League campaign at home to FC Twente.