Of the 832 players picked to represent their country at the World Cup in Qatar, only one is currently a free agent: improbably, it is one of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 37-year-old did have a club at the start of the tournament but is now without one after severing ties with Manchester United for the second time following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised numerous influential figures from the club’s past and present.
While “Mr World Cup” Guillermo Ochoa was busy saving penalties from Robert Lewandowski, United released a statement to confirm the departure of “Mr Champions League”, somewhat overshadowing the admittedly dreary encounter between Mexico and Poland in Doha.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect,” the statement began.
“The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future.
“Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch.”
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United are trying to craft something new and exciting and successful under their new manager Erik ten Hag and quite clearly, Ronaldo’s face did not fit.
Tensions between the two had been bubbling away ever since the Dutchman arrived in the summer, notably coming to a head when Ronaldo left Old Trafford early during a pre-season friendly against Real Valladolid and refused to come on as a substitute against Tottenham in the Premier League.
During his 90-minute chat with Morgan – the length of time he played in three of United’s 14 league matches this season, incidentally – Ronaldo, not renowned for his tackling, went in two-footed on his now former manager, ex-teammates Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, the Glazer family, United’s younger players and well, anyone he could think of, really.
Here’s what he had to say:
Ronaldo on Erik ten Hag:
“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me. If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.
“The coach didn’t have respect for me. So this is why the relationship is in that way. He keep saying in the press that he come to me, he like me, blah, blah, blah, but that it’s only for the press. One hundred per cent.”
Ten Hag claimed that he did not bring Ronaldo on during United’s 6-3 thrashing against Manchester City out of “respect for his career” to which Ronaldo replied, via the medium of Morgan: “Excuses. I see excuses.
“They choose the players that they think is better for the team. I respect that but excuses all the time you know; the excuses have short legs, cannot excuse all the time, which is things that don’t make sense.”
And on walking to the dressing room before the end of the 2-0 win over Spurs, he said: “He doesn’t respect the way I should deserve. This is why probably, the game against Tottenham, I left.”
“I feel very disappointed because, OK, I regret, I apologise. I’m not perfect, I made a mistake. But suspend me three games? For that? I think it’s too much. And then they make fire for the press, which is really disappoint me.”
Ronaldo on Manchester United:
“I think the fans should know the truth,” he said.
“I want the best for the club. This is why I came to Manchester United. But you have some things inside that don’t help [us] reach the top level as [Manchester] City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal. A club with this dimension should be top of the tree in my opinion, and they are not, unfortunately.”
The Glazers, who took control of the club in 2005, are now apparently looking to sell up, much to the delight of the club’s fanbase. For just £5bn, Manchester United could be yours…
Ronaldo on Gary Neville:
Gary Neville, whose job as a pundit is to critique players, said in August: “Let me be really clear, Ronaldo’s achievements in football go beyond anything that anybody could ever wish for and imagine.
“But it’s unpalatable for me to watch, as an ex-Manchester United captain, an ex-Manchester United senior player, and thinking that at this moment in time the star player in the dressing room is playing up.
“You can’t have your star player in a club running the shop. You cannot have it.”
Neville’s comments clearly riled Ronaldo, who snubbed his former teammate before a match against West Ham.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 30, 2022
@GNev2 #ronaldo pic.twitter.com/RoCaLfyNmV
“People can have his own opinion but they don’t really know what is going on for example inside the training ground, Carrington or even my life,” Ronaldo fired back. “They should listen not only one point of view, they have to listen my point of view as well because it’s easy to criticise but if you don’t have the whole story, it’s easy.
“They [Neville and Rooney] are not my friends. I don’t know if they have a job in television, they must criticise to be more famous. I think they take advantage of that because they are not stupid. I have to carry on with my life with [criticism] but it’s hard when you see people who were in dressing room with you criticise you that way – but I’m not going to sleep bad because of the criticism.”
Ronaldo added: “They are not my friends, they are colleagues. We play together, they’re not coming, we’re not ever having dinner together.”
Neville’s response? “Anyone for dinner?” he wrote on Twitter.
Ronaldo on Wayne Rooney:
“I don’t know why he criticises me so badly. Probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at high level.”
“One year ago or six months ago, he was in my house and he picked up his kids and asked Cristiano [Ronaldo’s son] if he wanted to play football. I don’t understand people like that, maybe they want to be front page of the news or they want jobs.”
Asked if Rooney is jealous of his success, Ronaldo responded added, laughing: “Probably, because he finished his career in his 30s. I’m still playing at a high level, I’m not going to say that I’m looking better than him, which is true.”
Rooney, who is currently managing DC United, was reportedly left “bemused” by Ronaldo’s criticism.
Ronaldo on the Glazers:
“Manchester are a marketing club – they get money from the marketing,” he said.
“It will be hard for Manchester to be top of the game in the next two or three years.
“The owners of the club, the Glazers, they don’t care about the club, professional sport.”
Ronaldo also accused United’s owners of not believing him when he informed them that he would miss United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to his daughter being hospitalised.
“I spoke with the directors and president of Manchester United and they kind of didn’t believe that something was going wrong which made me feel bad,” he added.
“They believed it but it’s something that really hurt me because they doubted my words. We had one week in hospital because Bella had big problems and I didn’t go to the pre-season because of that.
“Because I wasn’t going to leave my family if something happened to do a pre-season because I didn’t think it was fair to leave my family.”
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Ronaldo can't cope with failure - his entire Portugal and Man Utd careers have shown it23 November, 2022Ronaldo on Ralf Rangnick:
“After Ole, they bring in sport directive Ralf Rangnick, which is something nobody understands,” he said.
“This guy is not even a coach. A big club like Manchester United bringing in a sport directive surprised not only me but all the world.
“If you’re not even a coach, how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United? I’d never even heard of him.”
Analysis: Ronaldo can’t cope with failure, his entire Portugal and Man Utd careers have shown it
By Daniel Storey, i‘s Chief Football Writer
Cristiano Ronaldo is standing on the touchline at Paris’ Stade de France stadium, moving his hands frantically as if playing competitive charades. On his left leg is a huge strapping; Ronaldo repeatedly tried to return to the pitch after his injury, but even this force of ego does not have magical healing powers. And so, because he cannot play, he will coach instead. Several paces behind in, in Ronaldo’s literal and metaphorical shadow, stands Fernando Santos.
This is the defining image of Ronaldo’s international career; not the goals, not the wink, not the celebration. It suggested – no, it proved categorically – that Ronaldo is a man who is incapable of coping with his own failure, self-inflicted or by misfortune. That is the basis of his personality: an inability to accept a loss of power. If he could not score the goal, he must seize the opportunity to believe he was still the difference-maker.
It will not have escaped Ronaldo’s attention that Portugal won their only major final without him on the pitch. That the most famous goal in the country’s history was scored by Eder, who never scored competitively for Portugal before or after that day. Santos described Ronaldo as “the 12th man” after that final. Can you imagine a tag that Ronaldo would hate more – it is at least 11 more than he is used to.
Since 2016, Portugal’s performance can roughly be distilled to major tournament underachievement while Ronaldo continues to score goals on demand. He scored four goals at the 2018 World Cup as Portugal won one of their four matches and then scored five goals at Euro 2020 as Portugal won one of their four matches. Those who have been watching Ronaldo’s club career may be familiar with the trend of his goal output holding firm while the team enjoys diminishing returns.
For the first time since Ronaldo joined Manchester United, both parties are truly happy. Manchester United have removed a player whose public mutiny had made him a virus. Ronaldo has his free agency and his escape from the terrible shame of not starting every week. Now the list of clubs who he insists wanted to sign him can form an orderly queue.
Read Daniel’s full article here
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