“That’s almost abuse!” - When Michael Owen publicly hit out at Manchester United for tactics involving Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen publicly slammed the club in 2021 for their treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese rejoined the Red Devils that summer when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.
However, the Norwegian failed to get the team firing on all cylinders and ultimately lost his job later that year. Michael Carrick was in charge for a brief stint but Owen was least pleased with the tactics being deployed.
Speaking after Carrick benched Cristiano Ronaldo in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea, Owen accused Manchester United of abusing the Portuguese superstar.
"We were at Old Trafford for the City game the other day and all of a sudden it’s just exactly the same they leave Cristiano Ronaldo up front on his own. That’s almost abuse! Having someone that good in your team and then playing everyone defensively and saying: 'That’s alright we’ll just hope he nicks a goal,' he’ll end up being average," said Owen (via Mirror).
He continued:
"If you leave him and all these good players or just two of them playing and everyone else defending, they’ll start putting in bad performances because they’ve got nobody to pass to, they’ve got no options, they’re chipping the ball from 50 yards away."
He concluded:
"They need other players to come up and help them. It’s almost abusing the good players they’ve got and that’s the last thing you’ve got to do. If anything, expose the rubbish!"
Carrick eventually parted ways with the club after Ralf Rangnick took charge on an interim basis. Manchester United eventually roped in Erik ten Hag for the permanent position in the summer of 2022.
How many goals did Cristiano Ronaldo score in his second stint with Manchester United?
Cristiano Ronaldo started his second stint at Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, registering nine goals and two assists from 13 games. However, his efforts weren't enough to save the Norwegian's job.
The Portuguese forward went on to register three goals from three games under Michael Carrick, and 12 goals from 22 games under Ralf Rangnick. However, things went haywire following the arrival of Erik ten Hag in the summer of 2022.
Ronaldo scored three goals from 16 games under the Dutch manager but the two had a fallout as the season progressed. Ronaldo criticized Ten Hag in an interview, prompting Manchester United to terminate his contract. He went on to join Al-Nassr in December 2022 and currently plays for the Saudi Pro League outfit.
