‘Man Utd are better without Ronaldo and he should leave this week’ claims Neville
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Manchester United ‘are better without Cristiano Ronaldo’ according to his former teammate Gary Neville and suggested the veteran should cut ties with the club if he’s not happy.
Ronaldo missed United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea after being dropped by manager Erik ten Hag for walking out on the team during their win over Tottenham.
The 37-year-old has struggled to come to terms with being relegated to the bench for the majority of the season since failing to engineer an exit from United during the summer.
Ronaldo had previously walked out early on United during their pre-season friendly with Rayo Vallecano, a move which Ten Hag deemed ‘unacceptable’ at time time.
SAY SORRY!: Ten Hag tells Ronaldo to apologise or be left out
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game with Chelsea, Neville got into a heated debate with former teammate Roy Keane over whether Ronaldo has been harshly treated by Ten Hag.
“For me, Erik ten Hag had no choice, no option,” Neville said. “When you look at whether Ronaldo should be selected, which is obviously his main problem at this moment in time, that he's not playing as great a player as he's been, Man United are better without him and Erik ten Hag knows that.
“So I think the only thing that the club and Cristiano can do is get together in this next week or so and end the relationship.
“I think Cristiano's too good a player and too big a character, and the club have to move on.”
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Keane: United are better WITH Ronaldo
Despite the persistence of Neville and pundit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Keane was not to be convinced and insisted that Ronaldo is understandably frustrated at being mistreated.
Keane replied: "He certainly feels what's gone on and thinks he's been unfairly treated. 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.”
WHO NEEDS RONNIE: Stats that show United ARE better without Cristiano
"If he's doing the business, which he was doing in a bad Manchester United team... he missed pre-season; no matter what player you are that has a huge impact. Ronaldo won't play every game.”
Keane added: "If Ronaldo played most of the games he'd still be the leading goalscorer."
