Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed a lack of “communication” from the Red Devils has forced Cristiano Ronaldo ’s hand in an impassioned argument with Jamie Carragher.
The Portuguese forward dropped a huge bombshell on Sunday evening having taken part in a shocking interview with Piers Morgan, stating that he had been “betrayed” by senior figures at Old Trafford and did not respect manager Erik ten Hag. Since those revelations, a number of former players have been reacting - ex-Red Devils defender Ferdinand having been among those.
The now 44-year-old attempted to give a reason to the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s actions in a passionate discussion with ex-Liverpool star Carragher on his Vibe with Five Podcast. He has claimed that the communication from Old Trafford may have forced Ronaldo to act in the way that he has, something that Carragher was not left particularly convinced with.
Ferdinand, speaking on his podcast, said: “You’ve got to communicate with somebody. You can’t sit there and say ‘I’m going to bring you on for two minutes, have that, have two minutes’.”
Having previously replied to Ferdinand on Twitter, Carragher then unleashed a passionate rant stating that Ronaldo is solely to blame for the current situation.
The former Liverpool star said: “Rio, he’s bang in the wrong. This thing about communication, he wanted to leave, what’s the communication? Yes, you speak to players and I get that he’s different and you know, I understand he’s not a mere mortal, I think you’re right in that. And certain players, you have to treat completely different.
What was your view on Ronaldo's interview? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“If you were a manager and a player wanted to leave, obviously wasn’t in the pre-season tours. Then getting up to speed fitness-wise. The team was actually better without him, they can’t deny that.
“Now you can speak to him about: ‘Cristiano, I’m not going to use you in the next few games because of X,Y and Z but I might need you from the bench or this game I’m going to play you’. That’s the only communication I think you can see. He was made captain last week at Aston Villa. I know there was a few players out but I think that was the right decision because he’s Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Ferdinand then interrupted Carragher during his argument by suggesting that Ronaldo has not been given the reasoning that he deserved for falling out of contention at Old Trafford. He said: “Has that communication what you’ve laid out there, has that been had? I’d argue not, that’s what I’m saying. I would argue it hasn’t.”
Carragher was left aghast at that claim though by suggesting at a player at the age of 37 - having played for the likes of Man Utd, Real Madrid and Juventus - should not see that as a reason for ruffling feathers as he has done.
He concluded: “Is that all Cristiano Ronaldo wants? He wants a five-minute interview with the manager to tell him he’s going to play in the Europa League game in a few weeks’ time. Is that it?”
Since the interview with Morgan, United have released a short statement revealing that they will ‘consider their response after the full facts have been established’.
