BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – Despite expressing his love and declaring that he wants the best for Manchester United, Portuguese star forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, says the Club’s manager Erik ten Hag does not deserve his respect.
In a sensational new interview with Piers Morgan, the 37-year-old player hit out at Coach Ten Hag saying; “I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me.”
“If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you”, he said of his torrid relationship with the Dutchman.
Considered to be enduring a turbulent campaign at Old Trafford, making just four Premier League starts, Ronaldo has now opened up on exactly how unhappy he has been with life at the Premier League club.
According to him, there is this feeling of being “betrayed” by Man Utd and blamed for everything that has gone wrong at the club, thereby making him feel like a “black sheep.”
However, amid his tantrums against the Dutch-born tactician, Ronaldo claims he still wants the best for Manchester United but simply feels things are not being done in the right way at Old Trafford, adding; “I think the fans should know the truth. I want the best for the club. This is why I come to Manchester United
“But you have some things inside that don’t help (us) reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal . . . a club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion and they are not, unfortunately.”
Not done with his diatribes against critics, the Portuguese also went after former teammate, Wayne Rooney, suggesting that the Englishman is jealous of him for bad-mouthing his off-and-on-pitch behaviour.
Reacting to Rooney’s comments that his behaviour is unacceptable, Ronaldo hit back saying he looks better than the United legend
In criticising his former strike partner at Old Trafford, Rooney had urged the Portugal star to “get his head down and work and be ready to play”.
But Ronaldo did not take kindly to the criticism as he sniped back at the ex-England striker saying; “I don’t know why he criticises me so badly… probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at a high level”
He said in an interview with The Sun, “I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him. Which is true.”
Ronaldo has so far been heavily criticised by fans and pundits for delivering poor performance in the 2022-23 campaign. He wanted to leave the club in the summer transfer window but ultimately ended up staying.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner could face consequences for his words in the interview when he returns to United after the World Cup, especially on the comments about not having respect for Coach Erik ten Hag.
The United Manager has already dropped him this season after he left the Red Devils’ clash against Tottenham before full-time. It’s therefore no exaggeration to say that the Portuguese’s inflammatory comments mean he may have already played his last game for the Red Devils.
For now, the former Real Madrid and Juventus star man is set to link up with the Portugal national team for the World Cup. The European nation faces Nigeria in an international friendly on November 17, before taking on Ghana in their Group H opener at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. – With Agency reports
