Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo's 'selfish' behaviour to walk down the tunnel before the end of the match against Tottenham in midweek was like 'a flamethrower to the dressing room'.
Ronaldo refused to come on against Spurs on Wednesday night and trudged down the Old Trafford tunnel prior to the full-time whistle. United manager Erik ten Hag has dropped the 37-year-old from the Reds squad to face Chelsea on Saturday evening as a result, with the Portuguese star also training alone at Carrington.
His actions during the victory over Antonio Conte's men led to widespread criticism from former players and pundits, and Shearer - who was commentary duty when the incident happened - has once again slammed the forward's actions.
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"From the outset, I should say that Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent behaviour is totally unacceptable," he said in his column with The Athletic.
"Showing respect to your team-mates, your manager and your club’s supporters are amongst the fundamentals in football and to refuse to come on as a substitute, as Erik ten Hag has confirmed, and retreat to the dressing room with a game still in progress takes a flamethrower to one of the primary dressing-room codes.
"In a team game, where the basic principle is that you’re all in it together win or lose, such a display of selfishness and petulance is desperately unprofessional and it’s right that Ronaldo should be disciplined by Manchester United because of it.
"His was a terrible example to set and it’s a shame that instead of reflecting on their best performance of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, Ten Hag has been forced to talk about someone who only figured on the periphery."
However, the footballer-turned-pundit did reserve some sympathy for Ronaldo, admitting that the United star must be feeling 'strange' to be among the substitutes under Ten Hag.
Shearer added: "I get that his conduct looks bad – and it is bad – but the context in Ronaldo’s case is how unprecedented it must feel to be normal," he added. "How strange it must seem to be on the same planet as everybody else, when you hold yourself to the highest standards of performance. When you’re a force of nature and your force is blocked.
"It must be difficult to have that on the horizon while knowing to the core of your being that in different circumstances you would still be banging in goals. I don’t condone the way he’s acted, but I do think there’s some mitigation.
"There’s a disconnect between knowing you can’t quite do everything you used to, that you might have lost half a yard of pace, and actually accepting it, because you still have the same hunger and attitude and mentality. It must be harder when you’re a phenomenon like Ronaldo.
"Nobody wants to see him behave like that, stropping down the touchline, and that’s where we have to flip this back to the start. His reaction was really poor and not for the first time. He should be bigger than that."
Ronaldo has made 12 appearances for United in all competitions so far this term, with the frontman registering just two goals.
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