Former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has weighed in on the criticism surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s drop in form this season.
The Spaniard played for five years in Manchester before departing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
Five-time Ballon D’Or winner Ronaldo has had a lacklustre start to the season after reportedly searching for a new club over the summer transfer window. He has fallen out of favour under Erik ten Hag and has only started one Premier League game this season, being utilised as a substitute in the other matches.
Ronaldo netted his first league goal, which also happened to be his 700th career goal, against Everton on Sunday, October 9. He finished last season as United’s top goalscorer with 24 goals in all competitions but looks unable to recreate the same form this time around.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Herrera weighed in on the matter, saying: “Top scorer of the team, one of the top scorers in Europe. Probably not going to score 50 goals every season, of course, but he’s still fighting, scoring, taking care of himself every day, every single training [session] so respect.
“You can’t make him play every single game of the season, in the big moments he will be there.
“For me there is no space for criticism with Cristiano or with Leo [Messi].”
