“I get his point to be honest.”
Manchester United’s emphatic loss to Manchester City has highlighted many issues within the Old Trafford camp, but one thing in particular keeps creeping up.
The use of Cristiano Ronaldo, or rather, the lack of use, is a talking point that seems to rear its head every time something goes wrong at United.
With his side 4-0 down at half time, Erik Ten Hag opted not to bring on one the greatest goal scorers of all time, and stated afterwards that his decision to not play Ronaldo was made “out of respect” for the Portuguese legend.
Speaking on Sky Sports afterwards Roy Keane went on a furious rant, claiming that the decision to leave the former Real Madrid and Juventus star on the bench was disrespectful.
“Even today, could he have brought him on? Of course, he could’ve brought him on,” said Keane. So what if you’re four nil down?
“If you look at his goalscoring record, he has as good a chance as anyone of putting the ball in the back of the net.”People obsessed with the pressing side of the game… If you put the ball in the right areas, he’ll score goals.”
“Man United are showing disrespect to Ronaldo,” he added. “I think he should’ve been let go before the transfer window [closed].”
"𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙤!" 😤
Roy Keane believes Man United should have let Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club in the summer. pic.twitter.com/Zgs4vlItPG
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 2, 2022
Gary Neville believes that bringing Ronaldo on “would have been an insult.”
Like all hot topics in football, it made its way onto social media so just about everyone could share their opinion on the matter.
One person who never struggled to formulate an opinion is Piers Morgan, and it wasn’t long before the former News of the World journalist published a damming tweet echoing Keane’s comments.
“Imagine benching @Cristiano for Utd’s biggest game of the season, then using 5 other subs as they’re hammered into oblivion, & then claiming you did it ‘out of respect’ for him? Ten Hag is an arrogant deluded twerp & the way he’s treating Ronaldo is disgraceful.”
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/1576623146245189632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1576623146245189632%7Ctwgr%5Eef6d6dbd66f45b57ef637def56c5cd43b2794c03%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-16827660923484892823.ampproject.net%2F2209072154000%2Fframe.html
However, rather surprisingly, Keane’s former teammate and current Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville had a different view on the situation.
Replying to Morgan’s tweet, the former United right back was much more understanding and sympathetic to ten Hag’s decision.
“I get his point to be honest . Bringing him on at 4-0 and 6-1 would have been an insult . ETH may not have delivered the line correctly and probably would have been best not saying it. (although I like his honesty)”
Jamie Carragher believes Erik Ten hag made the right decision.
Another Sky Sports pundit who shared a similar view was Jamie Carragher. The former Liverpool defender tweeted his thoughts on the matter.
The idea that ETH got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable!
Ronaldo played at Brentford when it was 4-0 at ht!!
It’s not a dig at CR, but Rashford’s pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal/Liverpool was 💯the best option.— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 3, 2022
“The idea that ETH got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable! Ronaldo played at Brentford when it was 4-0 at ht!! It’s not a dig at CR, but Rashford’s pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal/Liverpool was 100% the best option.”
Carragher has been consistently critical of United’s decision to Ronaldo in the first place, and it seems that this could be further evidence to back up his theory.
Of course it would be the most ‘Ronaldo’ thing ever if the former best player in the world were to regain some form and silence everyone’s opinions.
Well, maybe not Piers Morgan’s… he’s good, but no one is that good.
