Cristiano Ronaldo has criticised Manchester United for firing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and replacing him with Ralf Rangnick.
The Portugal international has been the talk of the town in the week leading up to the World Cup. This is because of his tell-all interview with TalkTV host, Piers Morgan, where he talked about his time at Manchester United and the struggles within.
In the interview which was fully released on Wednesday, the football world got to know about his thoughts on Manchester United’s sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with whom he played in the early stages of his Man United career and who he played under when he returned to Old Trafford after 12 years in 2021.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus man plainly stated his disapproval of the incident. He also went further to criticise their choice of Ralf Rangnick as a replacement, believing it stunted their sporting growth.
Ronaldo’s problems at the club started under the German, who is now the manager of the Austria national team. Those problems have carried on into Erik ten Hag’s tenure, and this interview all but puts an end to his time at the club.
“I love Solskjaer. I think he was a top person,” Ronaldo told Morgan on TalkTV. “Because what I keep inside my heart is the heart of the person, and for me Ole is a top person.
“Coach? Of course, he didn’t look for what he wants. It’s hard to assume after Sir Alex Ferguson, but I think he did a good job for sure and he needed more time.
“But I have no doubts that he will be a good coach in the future. But it was a good experience. I was so pleased to work for him, even though it was a short period.”
On Rangnick’s appointment, he added: “No, they don’t (know what they are doing). They knew with the club, very well. But they don’t know the main dimension of the club inside, the history of the club.
“Which is, for me, surprised me even more. Which is when you sack Ole Solskjaer, you should bring a top manager, not a sports director.”
This was one of the many criticisms Ronaldo dished out to the club’s hierarchy, others being their handling of the club. His interview has garnered mixed reactions but Alberto Joao Jardim, the former president of the regional government of Madeira, Ronaldo’s hometown in Portugal, has thrown his weight behind the man who put the town on the map.
“The anti-Ronaldo campaign, the country at its worst: envy, bad language and ingratitude to the Madeiran who is the best known and most popular Portuguese in the world,” Jardim wrote on Facebook.
“Not any of the Lisbon nerds. Ronaldo, tell them to f*** off.”
More reactions continue to trail the interview.
