Former Manchester United duo Peter Schmeichel and Gary Neville are both in agreement over Cristiano Ronaldo's conduct in light of the forward being axed from the first-team squad.
The 37-year-old forward has been punished by boss Erik ten Hag for his conduct at the tail-end of Wednesday night's 2-0 home win over Tottenham. Just as the game was heading into second-half stoppage time, Ronaldo took it upon himself to storm down the Old Trafford tunnel once it became clear he would not be coming off the bench.
It obviously did not evade Ten Hag's detection, as the United manager told Amazon Prime: "He was there, I have seen him but I didn't speak. I will deal with that tomorrow not today. We're celebrating this victory and now we have to recover and another big game on Saturday, Chelsea. The Premier League, so exciting."
The pre-match discourse for that game against the Blues will now almost certainly be centred around Ronaldo's absence after Ten Hag has taken the step of exiling the forward from the first-team squad in the build-up to the game at Stamford Bridge.
It is a decision that will undoubtedly divide opinion, but it's clear the United boss felt he had to take a stand after Ronaldo's most recent tantrum. Ex-Red Devils shot-stopper Schmeichel has made his feelings on the matter crystal clear to BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It's the first time I can say that I am disappointed with him. Normally I back him, I understand his situation," the former Premier League star explained.
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"But we are in transition. Manchester United are now five managers down the road since Alex Ferguson. We have got Erik ten Hag in now who has very clear ideas about the way he wants to play football.
"We need understanding and time from everyone. We don’t need distractions like that, and that’s a disappointment I would say."
Schmeichel's sentiments were echoed by his former teammate Neville, who actually expressed his disappointment with Ronaldo months prior while discussing the forward's conduct over the course of the summer transfer window.
Neville told Sky Sports: "If he's fit you start him and I hope he stays, I'm a little bit disappointed in him.
"I'm disappointed, to be fair he's letting the manager go into those press conferences, Cristiano now is a good age, he's been the greatest player in the world alongside [Lionel] Messi for the last 10 years.
"He's got all the experience in the world, would it be too much to ask him to do an interview to clear things up and what he's thinking?"
Neville may be willing to offer up some credit after Ronaldo did finally break his silence in a long statement uploaded to his Instagram page.
"As I've always done throughout my career, I try to live and play respectfully towards my colleagues, my adversaries and my coaches. That hasn't changed," he wrote online to his 489m followers.
"I haven't changed. I'm the same person and the same professional that I've been for the last 20 years playing elite football, and respect has always played a very important role in my decision-making process.
"I started very young, the older and most experienced players examples were always very important to me. Therefore, later on, I've always tried to set the example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I've represented."
The statement went on, with Ronaldo stopping short of actually apologising for the way he acted but instead putting his behaviour down to the 'heat of the moment'.
"Unfortunately, that's not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us.
"Right now, I just feel that I have to keep working hard in Carrington, support my teammates and be ready for everything in any given game.
"Giving in to the pressure is not an option. It never was. This is Manchester United, and united we must stand. Soon we’ll be together again."
