Rio Ferdinand defends Ronaldo amid criticism

Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has hit out at critics, who have had negative things to say about Cristiano Ronaldo’s performances for the club.
The Portuguese came under fire in the wake of United’s recent losses, including the 5-0 loss to Liverpool, where he was criticised for not pressing enough to win the ball.
But since his return, Ronaldo has scored 7 times for Manchester United, something Ferdinand believes should more than make up for his supposed ‘lack of pressing’.
Speaking on his Vibe With Five YouTube channel, the former defender noted, “I’ve heard some talk and the only way I can explain it, is it’s blasphemy, when I heard some people talking about Ronaldo’s the reason why Man United aren’t going to be a success.
“Ronaldo turning up at Man United and yeah it’s great but he’s going to be the reason why they don’t do anything.
“Listen, I’ve been seeing too much of it, don’t talk like that. Please, it’s a disgrace, absolute disrespect.
“A player that’s done what he’s done in the game, a superstar at any generation, he’ll be one of the best players in any generation you can think about, and even again he just told people at the weekend what he’s about here… pressure’s on he scores.
“To think that because he doesn’t press, because he doesn’t run as much as other people… that’s not what he’s there for.
“You play to people’s strengths sometimes, you can do that when you’ve got a superstar in your team sometimes for certain clubs.”
Ferdinand also noted that the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane don’t press for their respective teams, but they score goals, and no one criticises them for not doing what they were not bought for.
He continued, “When you look at Lukaku, [Robert] Lewandowski, Karim Benzema… are they players, some of the best goalscorers of this generation… are they players that you look at and go “he doesn’t half work hard, he doesn’t half press the opposition.
“Harry Kane, he’s a great presser of the opposition isn’t he…” but we’re all talking about them like they’re great players.
“No one is questioning their work rate, their pressing ability.
“Let’s have it right, it’s got to be the same for someone like Ronaldo. It’s the bigger picture at United, the structure of the team, it was other things.”