“He still doesn’t realise – he’s not 25 years old.”
Man United legend Eric Cantona was not one bit impressed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s attitude during his second stint at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo publicly fell out with manager Erik Ten Hag, stormed down the tunnel before games were over, and was petulant and disruptive to the club throughout this campaign.
The final straw was when he held a tell-all interview with the equally unpopular Piers Morgan, and slated everything about Manchester United, from the players to the manager, to the facilities.
Cantona is one legend whose legacy will always remain in tact when it comes to United fans, and he has been very critical of Ronaldo’s behaviour.
The Frenchman understood that the Portugal captain was frustrated with being a substitute, but believes that managing your load in the latter stages of your career is something that you need to learn how to do.
“Like (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic still does it with Milan, Ryan Giggs or (Paolo) Maldini when he was in Milan.
“But I think Ronaldo didn’t realise – and he still doesn’t realise – he’s not 25 years old.
“He’s just older and he should have realised that instead of being not happy to play some games, say, “okay, I am not 25 years old, I cannot play every game, but I will help the young players and accept that situation and that’s my situation.
“I cannot run as fast as when I was 30 years old, I have to accept it. I have to accept I will die someday. It’s difficult to accept it but we have to.
“It’s like everything in the world, you have people who accept they are older. You have to accept it. In everything we do. Not only in football. In everything.
“And the end of a career is like dying. It’s a little death. You have to start another thing,” he explained.
“And before you die, you’re getting old and you have to accept you are getting old. You cannot do the things you do.”
Related links:
- Al Nassr deny Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract contains World Cup clause
- How one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or trophies ended up with Israel’s richest person
- Piers Morgan digs deeper with comments on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi move
