Christian Eriksen has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo was annoyed with him for trying to take free-kicks instead of him at Manchester United.
Ronaldo left United under a cloud in November after the club terminated his contract for giving a hugely controversial and critical interview to Piers Morgan. Before he left, Ronaldo was frequently seen to be visibly angry and frustrated on the pitch with his team-mates.
Eriksen played alongside the Portuguese striker during the first half of the campaign and saw first-hand how his ego disrupted the team dynamic. The Dane explained that how Ronaldo has gone, there is a group of players, including himself, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, who decide who will take free-kicks – but before Ronaldo frequently tried to pull rank.
“Even now at the club we have multiple takers who, if he's had a good day, he's going to have it,” Eriksen told Owen Hargreaves in a free-kick masterclass for the club website.
“I did take one [instead of Ronaldo], I think, but he wasn't too happy with that! But then with the three we have now, it's [about] where we are on the pitch, how people are feeling – so it's like 'you had the last one, I'll have the next one'.”
Despite his insistence on taking free-kicks in dangerous areas, Ronaldo does not have a great record from dead-ball situations. His trademark ‘knuckleball’ technique saw him score some memorable free-kicks during his first spell at United, between 2003 and 2009.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Are Manchester United better off without Cristiano Ronaldo? Comment below.
The 38-year-old netted 14 times from free-kicks in that period and continued to score in the colours of Real Madrid. But he managed just one successful free-kick goal during his three years at Juventus and just one in his second spell at Old Trafford.
Overall, he has scored 59 free-kicks in his career since turning professional in 2002, with a conversion rate of just over six per cent. Twelve of those have come in the Premier League, putting him joint third-place on the all-time list of free-kicks scorers in the league.
United legend David Beckham is top, with 18, ahead of Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse (17). Ronaldo is level on 12 with Thierry Henry and Gianfranco Zola.
Speaking to Mirror Football in 2021, former United goalkeeper Luke Steele gave an insight into Ronaldo’s knuckleball free-kick during his early years. "I can honestly say that he wasn't particularly great at that free-kick, I'm sure he would say that himself at the age of 18, 19,” he said.
"I always remember Louis Saha teaching him something - I don't know what they were muttering about - but often the ball would fly into the car park which was just behind at Carrington.
"I'd even be thinking, 'Flipping heck, hit the target because I'm getting cold here.' But gradually he just adapted... all of a sudden he started hitting this free-kick that started wobbling and moving all over.”
