Roy Keane and Gary Neville were embroiled in a heated debate over Cristiano Ronaldo’s behaviour after Manchester United’s draw with Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Casemiro’s dramatic equaliser and Raphael Varane’s injury were major talking points from the game but the pair got most passionate when talking about the dropped Ronaldo, who exited the Tottenham game early after refusing to come on as a late substitute on Wednesday.
The striker took to Instagram on Thursday to underline his commitment to the team, saying “the heat of the moment” got to him. He has trained on his own since being dropped but could be recalled by Erik ten Hag next week.
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While both Keane and Neville agreed that the club were right to take action, the pair differed on whether United were better off without him in the side. Keane also argued United players had “done worse” than Ronaldo in the past, and that the 37-year-old was “justified” in his anger.
“He certainly feels what’s gone on, he’s been unfairly treated,” he told Sky Sports. “If you feel that as a senior pro there’s a justified anger, you’re going to react that way but he’s got flaws like we all have.”
Neville suggested that Ronaldo will have to alter his mindset after playing his whole career at the top level. He said: “What’s important to Cristiano is he wants to keep scoring at the highest level. He wants to play in the Champions League because that record he has, he’s 10 to 12 [goals] ahead of Messi, that’s so important to him.
“That battle that they’ve had for all those years, he’s not going to give it up easily, he wants to go to a team in the Champions League, he’s on a lot of money. He has to accept less money to go to a Champions League club and play or he has to go play for a non-Champions League football.”
Keane said he admired Ronaldo’s elite mentality and that he has earned the right not to give up on top-level football just yet. He added: “The fact he still wants to do that is fantastic. We go to games every week and we watch some bad games, we praise bad players.”
When Neville and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink tried to respond, Keane reacted: “Let me finish! Let me finish, we watch players who are finished at 32, 33 - they take a big pay packet to the States, China, wherever, or they retire.
“This guy wants to keep on playing. I’m not giving him a thumbs up for his behaviour, far from it.”
Neville - who previously said United “score more goals without him and they get more points without him” - went on to ask: “Do you think Manchester United will be better and win more points as a team?” Keane responded: “Yeah.”
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