Jamie Carragher has urged Rio Ferdinand to stop being a Cristiano Ronaldo ‘fan boy’ as the pair clashed over Erik Ten Hag’s decision to drop the striker for the Manchester derby.
The Red Devils were humiliated at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, with a pair of hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden helping Manchester City to a 6-3 win - although it could have been far worse. Dutch manager Ten Hag opted to start Marcus Rashford upfront, as he had done for the four consecutive league wins prior to the derby.
Ten Hag used all five substitutes during the derby but opted against using Ronaldo - supposedly ‘out of respect’ for his glittering career - much to the derision of many United fans and former players. And the fallout has seen ex-Liverpool defender Carragher clash with Ronaldo’s former teammate Ferdinand.
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Carragher initially commented on Erik Ten Hag’s decision to drop Ronaldo, tweeting: “The idea that ETH [Erik Ten Hag] 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 [Cristiano Ronaldo], but [Marcus] Rashford’s pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal/Liverpool was the best option.”
Ferdinand bit, recalling a recent moment in which the Portuguese striker snubbed Carragher’s handshake live on Sky Sports: “Carra you still upset he didn’t shake ur hand at Old Trafford? The hardest thing to do in football is score goals…”
To which the former Reds defender replied: “No I’m delighted it went viral! Rio I know how it works, he’s your mate & you/Evra & the rest are on the group WhatsApp & he asks you to come out & defend him, don’t be his fan boy you’re Rio Ferdinand for FFS!!”
Roy Keane and Micah Richards also clashed over Ten Hag’s decision after the final whistle, with another of Ronaldo’s former teammates claiming United have disrespected the striker and that his refusal to press doesn’t matter because ‘he’s going to get me 20/25 goals’.
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