‘Here is a player who has taken Man United to heights and scored goals for them’ – Souness slams poor treatment of Ronaldo
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Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has slammed the poor treatment of Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is increasingly frustrated about his lack of opportunities in the starting XI under Erik ten Hag.
The 37-year-old refused to come off the bench late on at Old Trafford and then walked down the tunnel before the game had finished.
Ronaldo has axed from the Manchester United squad to face Chelsea on Saturday and have been banished from first-team training.
“It’s a desperately sad situation that Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself in,” Souness wrote in the Daily Mail. “Here is a player who has taken Manchester United to the heights and scored goals for them which will live long in the memory — yet look what that club have reduced him to.
“This is a situation entirely of United’s making. A problem they just didn’t need to create. Erik ten Hag has made some bold and courageous decisions, trying to instil discipline and unity. But how did he think this situation with Ronaldo was going to work?
“Ten Hag and United have shot themselves in the foot and not helped themselves one bit.”
“For Ronaldo to have refused to come on to the pitch when requested by Ten Hag is clearly something the manager cannot accept. Such a fundamental breach of the team ethic is the first step on a road to ruin,” Souness added.
“But it is not hard to imagine how the conversation went between the two of them when changes were being made and he was asked to go on after 87 minutes, to run down the clock. A three-minute role at the dog-end of a 2-0 win is an indignity that this player will not have expected to be reduced to.
“If this continues, United will end up destroying Ronaldo’s legacy. The least the club owe him is not to allow that to happen. To stop putting him through this.”