"We defend with eleven, starting with Cristiano up front"

Although Cristiano Ronaldo's job is to score a lot of goals, this year has not been his year in that respect. He has scored three goals and provided two assists in 15 games so far.

Ten Hag, who has had his ups and downs with the Portuguese player, wanted to express his thoughts on the striker: "He may not score as much, but he is helping out like the best."

"We defend with eleven, starting with Cristiano up front. So we are hard to beat as a team. That’s a compliment but it’s also that process we have to keep going. That makes it hard to beat us because everyone is convinced of that plan, everyone is disciplined in that plan," Ten Hag told in a press conference before the Aston Villa match.

"When we play with the desire and passion, we are hard to beat and that makes us, in this moment, successful," the coach concluded.

As much as he now defends Cristiano's work, his attitude has not gone down well in Portugal. Atletico legend Futre recently criticised Ten Hag for what he sees as an insult to his compatriot: "Ten Hag is humiliating him, you can't tell him to come on with two minutes to go."