Cristiano Ronaldo has hit out at Manchester United 's young stars, who he has compared to his 12-year-old son, Cristiano Jr.
The Portuguese superstar lamented several aspects of his current employer, including the manager, their owners and their facilities. Several of his team-mates have also been in the firing line as Ronaldo opens up on the issues he has with the up-and-coming generation.
Now 37, the forward has been playing for top clubs for near enough two decades and morphed into one of the game's leading lights by his early 20s. His dedication has long been hailed as one of his greatest attributes, but he doesn't see similarities with the latest crop of emerging talents.
Ronaldo's work ethic as a teenager was integral in his rise, but he doesn't see the same desire from youngsters nowadays. He told Piers Morgan on Talk TV : "I don’t think that word [respect] is the best one, they live in a different era. I can see with my kid, who is 12 years old, the mentality is not the same."
He went on to say: "The hunger. They [the young players] have things more easily. Everything is easy. They don’t suffer, they don’t care. I don’t mean just Man United, but all teams. They are not the same as my generation. But we cannot blame them. It is part of the life of the new generation, the new technologies which distract them from other things.
"They are not the same. They listen, but they hear one side [and it goes out the other ear]. It doesn’t surprise me, but it is a shame. If they have the best examples in front of them, if they don’t at least copy what you did, it’s kind of weird. I remember when I was 18, 19, 20, I was always looking to see the best players.
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"Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs – this is why I have had the success I have had and the longevity, because I take care of my body, my mentality, my head, that’s because I saw those guys and learnt from them.
"They don’t care. Some ones yes, but most of them no. To me it is not surprising. They are not going to have longevity in their careers. It is impossible. My generation you see players at 36, 37, 38 playing at a high level. I don’t think many in this [new] generation are going to reach that level."
United are seeing a host of youngsters break into the first team, the most recent being Alejandro Garnacho, who has been complimentary of Ronaldo. Anthony Elanga is another academy graduate to become a regular fixture over the past 12 months, but he and his fellow rising stars will clearly need to up their dedication to impress Ronaldo.
