Rio Ferdinand has defended his friend and former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after the forward was axed from the squad to face Chelsea for refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur before leaving Old Trafford early.
It was a bad move, and I am stunned that Ronaldo has people coming to his defence. The 37-year-old was rightly left out of the XI on Wednesday night, United played brilliantly and won the game 2-0 – but we are still sat here discussing Ronaldo.
Ten Hag has reacted by telling Ronaldo to train on his own at Carrington.
However, Ferdinand feels Ronaldo has been harshly treated and has blamed Ten Hag for his lack of communication with his veteran star.
“I wouldn’t have been happy as a player. Ronaldo mentioned he would have handled things differently. Any emotions attached to it, it takes control. I probably would have been in the queue asking him about it,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
"I wouldn't have been happy as a player.
"I probably would have been in the queue of people wanting to speak to him about that decision."@rioferdy5 discusses Cristiano Ronaldo's early exit from Old Trafford and the way Erik ten Hag handled the situation. pic.twitter.com/8oS4rWvdzJ
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 22, 2022
“There’s always another side to it. When you’re dealing with Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s Ronaldo. The way of treating him is different to everybody else. Communication. That’s probably the first time in his life where that’s not upheld by the manager.
“I’m not saying he was right but there are special players sometimes in a squad that things work differently for.
“It’s important for the team to see that he is communicated with. He’s 37. He probably needs that more than ever.”
Stretty News verdict – Why is Rio defending Ronaldo?
They must be close mates because Ferdinand is failing to understand Ten Hag has more on his plate than the Ronaldo show.
How he can defend this behaviour – excusing it as being down to a lack of communication – baffles me.
Ferdinand must have been on the phone to Ronaldo during the week.
