‘Not acceptable for Manchester United’: Wayne Rooney provides harsh criticism for Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo

With Cristiano Ronaldo having a horrible season with Manchester United, the Portugal captain has been receiving plenty of criticism lately. Even the attacker’s former teammate Wayne Rooney joined the bandwagon and urged him to get his head down and work.

Speaking on TalkSport, Ronney said, “For Cristiano, just get your head down and work and be ready to play when the manager needs you. If he does that, he will be an asset. If he doesn’t, it will become an unwanted distraction.”

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“Him and Messi are arguably the two best players of all time and you can go either way with that, whatever way you decide. But I just think the things he has done from the start of the season, is not acceptable for Manchester United”, the former England international added.

Ronaldo even lashed out at former United captain Roy Keane, for coming to Ronaldo’s defence. “I’ve seen Roy Keane defending him. Roy wouldn’t accept that. Roy wouldn’t accept that at all. It is a distraction which Manchester United don’t need at the minute, when they are trying to rebuild”, he said.

United are currently fifth in the Premier League standings with 23 points (seven wins, two draws and four defeats). Finally, giving his verdict on Erik Ten Hag’s tenure as United manager, Rooney said, “I think Ten Hag has done really well. He’s come in and stamped his authority on the team, and for the first time in about two or three years I’m starting to see an identity with Manchester United which I haven’t seen in the last two or three years. He’s the right man for the job. I think it will take time but it’s a real step in the right direction to finish in that top four and get Champions League football again.”