Jamie Carragher and Rio Ferdinand have clashed after the ex-Liverpool defender claimed the 44-year-old was defending Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Sunday, Piers Morgan revealed he had sat down with Ronaldo to discuss his time at United since rejoining the club. In clips that were released on social media, the Portuguese forward criticised the club, Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and Wayne Rooney.
While Ferdinand has admitted that Ronaldo's spell at Old Trafford is 'over', Carragher still felt that the former centre-back was defending his past teammate while appearing as a guest on the Vibe with Five podcast. In a heated exchange, the pair went back and forth on the subject of Ronaldo.
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Here is what the two ex-defenders had to say:
JC: What have the club done wrong?
RF: There’s problems because, yes he played a part in that, but the club have to take responsibility in that as well. I go back to communication.
JC: Are you serious?
RF: So why is there a problem now then?
JC: I totally agree him or David de Gea would’ve been the best player last year.
RF: He’s only a problem now, he wasn’t a problem last season mate. He scored 24 goals in a struggling team, he was the best player last season.
JC: Rio, you’re getting this wrong. Cristiano Ronaldo is not an asset for Manchester United right now, he’s a liability. There’s a massive difference. He’s on half-a-million pounds a week and no club out there wants to take him, he’s a massive problem for Manchester United, it’s a huge problem.
RF: It doesn’t matter if it’s a real story or not, he could’ve been blagging but it’s surely the club go: ‘We can’t handle this. Let’s sit round a table and sort it out.' If in any business, one of your biggest assets, worldwide figures comes out and says that, there will be a rocket coming out at some point. You go in and go: ‘Listen, we’ve got to put measures out in place that this doesn’t come out or manage the situation.' I’m not saying he’s right but if I was the club, you’ve got to pre-empt that.
JC: What real story? There is no real story.
RF: I just think, even his tweet, he put out on August 3 about releasing some sort of information, the real story, the real facts.
JC: Is that all Cristiano Ronaldo wants? A five-minute chat with the manager to tell him he’s playing in the Europa League, is that it?
RF: Has that communication you’ve laid out there, has that been had? You could argue not, I’d argue that he hasn’t.
JC: Hang on, he said in the Manchester Derby he never brought him on out of respect for Cristiano Ronaldo, losing 6-3 in a derby game. I can understand that and Erik ten Hag was criticised a little for that but I actually thought I could understand that. He got criticised for that then it got fed out that Cristiano Ronaldo still wanted to play, come onto the pitch, have an impact. Then a few weeks later, he asks him to come on with two minutes to go, it’s a lack of respect. Rio, he’s bang in the wrong. This thing about communication, he wanted to leave, what’s the communication? Yes you speak to players, yes he’s different, I understand he’s not a mere mortal and you’re right in that, certain players like that you have to treat differently. But if you were a manager and a player wanted to leave, he wasn’t in the pre-season tours, had to wait to get up to speed fitness-wise, the team looks better without him, you can’t deny that. You can speak about ‘okay Cristiano, I’m not going to use you for the next few games because of X, Y, Z, need you from the bench or I’m going to play you’ that’s the only communication that I can think you can see. He was made captain last week at Aston Villa.
RF: You’ve got to communicate with somebody, you can’t sit there and say I’m going to bring you on for two minutes, have that. Have two minutes.
JC: Communicate what?
RF: If they don’t let him leave, what’s the plan then? Whatever happens, he stays, what’s your plans now?
JC: Nobody wanted him.
RF: So if they don’t let him leave, what’s the plan going forward?
JC: He wanted to leave, that’s his plan.
RF: What their plans were with him.
JC: What do you mean what’s the plan now?
RF: I’m defending the previous elements that we saw leading up to this point, up to this interview I’d defend him, I’d say the club had a big opportunity to communicate better. But here and now…
JC: Sounds like you’re defending him again, Rio.
RF: I’ve heard you say that but my point was always, when you’re in the club and the manager or the club doesn’t communicate with you properly, things can go left. Someone like Cristiano, given what he’s done in the game, he’s in a place where he deserves that, us mere mortals like me and you, we’re dealt with like everyone else like fodder. These types of players are different, you’ve never been in a dressing room with a player of that stature I appreciate that, understandable, I’m sorry but someone who goes down as one of the greatest players to ever kick a ball, I’m sorry but anyone else I wouldn’t be saying that but you’ve got to deal with the situation differently. I don’t think they communicated well enough.
JC: I totally agree but what I want to ask you as well. People always think I don’t like Cristiano Ronaldo and have been critical of him, I was more critical of the club for bringing him in. I don’t see how nobody saw this happening, how did you think this was ever going to end for Ronaldo at Manchester United? For the player he is, he was never going to accept being a substitute and for a player at his age, he was going to have to be a sub, that’s come now, his first season on an individual level, he scored 25 goals which is fantastic in a team that weren’t great and at his age. I don’t see when that euphoria started for when he come in, I could see it a mile off, there was no other way that this is going to end.
RF: On this whole issue, you can’t sit there and defend that from Cristiano. Deep down and I know this has been manufactured for one thing and that’s to leave the club. This love affair Cristiano Ronaldo has had with Manchester United is over in my eyes. I don’t feel there’s any way back, I don’t feel the club will have him back and I don’t think he wants to come back, that’s a given and that’s all manufactured for the same reason, he wants to get out of this place.
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