Jamie Carragher has brutally mocked Rio Ferdinand by telling him not to be Cristiano Ronaldo 's "fan boy" during an ugly Twitter spat.
Manchester United megastar Ronaldo was left on the bench for the fifth successive Premier League match as his side were hammered 6-3 by bitter rivals City in a one-sided derby clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. In reaction to the drubbing, ex-Red Devils defender Ferdinand hit out at United manager Erik ten Hag for not playing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner on such a big occasion.
Liverpool legend Carragher, on the other hand, agreed with Ten Hag's decision to start Marcus Rashford instead, issuing his verdict via the social media platform on Monday morning. "The idea that ETH got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable," the Anfield icon wrote. "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 per cent the best option."
Ferdinand directly replied to the Carragher's criticism six hours later, posting a video of his thoughts on the situation and cheekily referencing how Ronaldo infamously snubbed a pitch-side handshake with the former Liverpool centre-back earlier this season. "Carra you still upset he didn't shake your hand at Old Trafford? The hardest thing to do in football is score goals," Ferdinand stated.
In a rapid response to the United great's jibe, Carragher accused Ferdinand and his ex-Red Devils teammate, Patrice Evra, of being part of a WhatsApp group with Ronaldo, who allegedly pleads for the pair and their fellow pundits to defend him from critics during debates over his place at Old Trafford. "No I'm delighted it went viral," Carragher began.
"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!!"
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Ferdinand has long been a staunch backer of Ronaldo's since his sensational return to United last summer, having played alongside him for six seasons until 2009. In his latest defence of the 37-year-old, the 81-capped England international fumed: "You can't have your top goalscorer, who scores 24 or 25 goals a season, on the bench. I'm sorry.
"People keeping talking about... And I see Roy Keane talking about it and I totally agree - why are we so concerned with what people don't do all the time? What's he good at? The hardest thing to do in football is score goals and this guy does it as good, if not better, than anybody."
