Jamie Carragher does not see a way back for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United following his comments about Erik ten Hag on Sunday.
During his already infamous sit-down with Piers Morgan, in which he aimed a spate of accusations at United, he detailed that he has no respect for his new boss. "I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me," he said. "If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you."
Ten Hag has been widely praised for his handling of Ronaldo during his tenure.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher trolls Roy Keane over Ronaldo interview
The biggest flashpoint saw him suspend the attacker from the squad for October’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea after refusing to come on against Tottenham prior to his tunnel exit before full-time. This came after he handed in a transfer request over the summer and before leaving the pre-season friendly with Rayo Vallecano after half-time.
One of Ronaldo’s most outspoken critics has been Carragher, who was blanked on live TV by the superstar when greeting ex-teammates Gary Neville and Roy Keane. The former Liverpool defender had called for Ten Hag to sell Ronaldo in the summer, branding his homecoming "a mistake".
Carragher said the timing of Ronaldo’s interview with Morgan was "bizarre" and "bang out of order", explaining how his comments about Ten Hag means an exit is now a certainty amid the stance that the disrespect actually goes the opposite way.
"He wants to be sacked, that’s obvious," he said on Sky Sports. "I’m not sure where this disrespect comes from Erik ten Hag, I don’t get it at all. I think he’s disrespecting Man United and Erik ten Hag.
"I’m sure Erik ten Hag had that respect from the start but there hasn’t been respect going the other way in terms of he wanted to leave. He has refused to go on as substitute, left before the game finished, he also did that in pre-season.
"Erik ten Hag made him captain at Aston Villa so I don’t get this lack of respect in either way really but I think the respect for Ronaldo was there for everybody to see but I think the manager has played an absolute blinder in how he’s played it."
Carragher said United should "sack him or move him on" in order to limit the damage this will do to Ten Hag’s rebuild. He argued that the Reds manager has no option but to offload him and end his United career or risk derailing the whole project.
He continued: "They’ve got a manager in the next two or three years who will want to really push on and Ronaldo won’t be around. He’s going to be a distraction, this isn’t going to go away.
"As soon as a player comes out and says they don’t respect the manager, how’s that going to work when he walks back in on the first day for the start of the season again after the World Cup? It can’t work.
"You don’t need the hassle and that’s why I said 18 months ago it’s a massive mistake to bring Ronaldo back to United because this was always going to happen.
"It was always going to end like this, he couldn’t be a sub - which I admire, he’s got that drive and that’s what makes him the great player he is - but it was always going to happen and blow up in United’s face and it was a massive mistake to bring him in the first place."
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