Former Manchester United striker Andy Cole believes it is 'unfair' to solely blame Cristiano Ronaldo for the manner in which his second spell at Old Trafford ended.
The 37-year-old left the Reds by mutual agreement following his controversial TV interview with Piers Morgan. He criticised his then manager Erik ten Hag, the club's owners and several of his former teammates. Ronaldo also claimed that United had 'betrayed' him.
Ronaldo had only scored three goals in 16 appearances for United prior to the World Cup in Qatar. The former Real Madrid ace, who had fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford, also refused to come on as a substitute in the victory over Tottenham on October 19. As a result, he was dropped for the following match against Chelsea.
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Ten Hag and United received widespread praise for how they dealt with the Portuguese star this term, but former Reds forward Cole - who scored 121 goals for United - suggested that it is 'too simple' to claim all problems have disappeared now Ronaldo has left.
"I'm not going to sit here and say Ronaldo was the problem, because at a football club there can be more than one individual that can be a problem," he told Casinos En Ligne. "You hear it said that United have done fantastically well to get rid of him and now everything's all rosy.
"No, I don't think so because there seemed to be problems before he arrived and there's still problems since he left - despite this run they're on. It's too simplistic to scapegoat Ronaldo when clearly there's other issues at play.
"If they lose a couple of games, who are they going to blame then? Because obviously you can’t blame Ronaldo any more. Ronaldo has been an unbelievable player and I wish the situation could have been resolved better."
Ronaldo left Old Trafford having registered 145 goals in 346 appearances across his two spells at the club. He joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr last month.
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