Robbie Fowler is adamant that Cristiano Ronaldo is right to be frustrated by his new bit-part role at Manchester United - just as he was when he went through a similar ordeal at Liverpool.
Fowler, who was affectionately dubbed "God" by Reds fans, netted 187 goals across two spells with Liverpool during his illustrious playing career and is widely recognised as one of the club's - and the Premier League's - best-ever strikers.
However, his long love affair with the Merseyside outfit wasn't always straightforward. He famously quit the club back in 2001 after falling out of favour, with Michael Owen and Emile Heskey preferred upfront.
Fowler admits that he was still adamant that he was the best striker at the club at the time and therefore deserving of a more substantial role - just like Ronaldo, who was United's top scorer last season but is now firmly behind Marcus Rashford in the Old Trafford pecking order.
The Portuguese veteran came under fire after he refused to come on as a substitute during United's win over Tottenham last week before leaving the ground early, but Fowler has some sympathy for him. He told FairBettingSites: "I have been in this situation where I believed, without being egotistical, I was the best striker but for whatever reason, managers pick a team without you in it.
"As a player, it is hard to get your head around that you aren't the first player being picked for the team. But what do you do? You go out there and perform at training and do everything you need to do, but it doesn’t really matter, managers still might have certain players that they want to play and it's hard to accept that.
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"That's why I left Liverpool for Leeds. I felt for me and my game, as much as I love Liverpool, I needed to play football. I felt I was forced out of the club by not playing but I needed to go and play for my own sanity."
Ronaldo was omitted from the Manchester United squad that drew against Chelsea on Sunday but scored on his return in the 3-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night.
However, Fowler admits that there are question marks over whether or not Ronaldo is still capable of thriving in the type of prominent role he craves. He added: "The question remains with Ronaldo, I think he could pick any club in the world to go and play at. We need to remember he isn’t the player he used to be, he is still a good player we all know that. He is still a handful and the way he looks after himself is up there with the better players who have ever lived.
"The money situation is massive and any club in the world would take him. If he wants to continue to play at a good level then unfortunately for him he will have to take a huge pay cut. He should be aware of that.
"Manchester United knew the type of player they were bringing in. We know it's a different manager and this is obviously one of the problems he had with Man United last year. He was getting a bit of stick because he wasn't pressing but he wasn't brought in to do that. Not everyone can play the perfect way. He was brought in to score goals and he has scored goals.
"Now a different manager has come in who has new goals and a different ambition of wanting to play. It is quite clear that Ronaldo doesn't fit into that plan, so the best concern for all parties is if he goes. The simple answer I can give you. He is a great player but if he wants to play close to 90 minutes then he has got to go."
