Marco van Basten offers Erik ten Hag advice and disagrees with Cristiano Ronaldo opinion

Holland legend Marco van Basten has offered advice to incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on star forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 37-year-old's return to the Premier League has split fans and pundits alike. Despite constant criticism for the Portugal captain, he has often proved to be the match-winner for United, with two hat-tricks as well as firing in his 100th Premier League goal in the defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.

His future at Old Trafford has been up for debate since his arrival and some have suggested he won't fit into Ten Hag's system next season. However, Van Basten disagrees with the suggestion that he should leave. He said: "If Ronaldo carries on playing like he did last week (against Norwich) and scores two or three goals in a match on a regular basis, there is no need to take him out of the team.

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"Ronaldo is a player who does his own thing, but as long as he delivers, you have to give him a place in the team," he said speaking to the Rondo show. "Ten Hag will take into account that he cannot ask the same things physically from Cristiano Ronaldo that he will be asking of an 18-year-old.

"Of course, Ronaldo will need to work hard – and I am sure he will work hard because I can see Ten Hag having an influence on him to get him to play how he wants. I will give Erik one piece of advice: don’t listen to the media when you start there.

"He will have such a massive focus on his own job, on his work on the training ground and on the team. And when he does that, I am sure he can change everything at United."

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