Wayne Rooney has criticised Roy Keane over comments the Cork native made about Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese star refused to come on as a substitute during United's 2-0 win over Tottenham last month, with a number of pundits hitting out at Ronaldo over some of his behaviour this season.
But Keane jumped to his former teammates defence, saying he ‘would be more worried’ if Ronaldo was ‘laughing and joking on the bench’.
READ MORE: Roy Keane slammed for Cristiano Ronaldo comments after Aston Villa hammering
Speaking on Sky Sports, Keane said: "I try and see it from the player’s point of view, and he’s obviously had enough, he’s lost his head and I think that’s been brewing over the last few weeks with Ronaldo.
"But I’ll still try to defend him. He’s a human being, he’s got flaws, he feels frustrated that he’s not been properly getting opportunities and he’s had enough.
"He’s walked down the tunnel… I think players have done a lot worse things at Manchester United, it happens, it’s human nature.
"Everybody was saying after they beat Spurs and that it was a big win, the best performance in years – absolute rubbish, Spurs were terrible.
"Manchester United managed to beat Spurs last year at home as well, and Ronaldo got a hat-trick, so he’s more than capable of getting on that pitch and making a difference.
"He has to take his punishment. Is there a way back for him? I’m not sure.
"I still think Ronaldo’s behaviour over the last week… I’d be more worried if Ronaldo was sitting on the bench every week laughing his head off and not caring.
"I think the guy cares. This game is full of bluffers and he is certainly not one of them. I think he cares about the club, I think he wants to play, he needs to play, and he’s a world-class player.
"People are saying he’s not the player he was ten years ago, of course he’s not! But he was the leading goalscorer last year for Man United… he went into a bad Manchester United team last year, a really bad team, and he was still the leading goalscorer.
"I think in the last few weeks he was frustrated after the City game, then in the Everton game he was a sub, he came on and he scored, then he was taken off against Newcastle and the manager then wanted to bring him on for a few minutes against Tottenham…
"Ten Hag said in the press conference that Ronaldo refused to go on, but they [the press] should have asked him, ‘When were you going to put him on?’
"Putting Ronaldo on late in the game with two or three minutes to go? I’m not too sure that was a clever move.”
However, Rooney believes that Keane would not have put up with Ronaldo's behaviour if he was still a player at the United.
He told talkSport: “Him and Messi are arguably the two best players of all-time and you can go either way with that, whatever way you decide.
“But I just think the things he has done from the start of the season, it is not acceptable for Manchester United. I’ve seen Roy Keane defending him. Roy wouldn’t accept that. Roy wouldn’t accept that at all.
“It is a distraction which Manchester United don’t need at the minute, trying to rebuild.
“For Cristiano, just get your head down and work and be ready to play when the manager needs you. If he does that, he will be an asset. If he doesn’t, it will become an unwanted distraction.”
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