Vintage Keane
Roy Keane sarcastically joked about ‘problem’ Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese captain scored the equaliser for Manchester United against Chelsea.
Ronaldo has scored 23 goals and registered three assists in 36 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils so far this season.
Ronaldo to the rescue
The 37-year-old started in attack for Ralf Rangnick’s side against Chelsea on Thursday night, scoring a vital goal for the home side in their push for a top-four place.
Chelsea opened the scoring through Marcus Alonso, but United’s number seven levelled proceedings in the 62nd minute with a stunning finish, which led to Keane addressing the striker’s critics.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Jamie Redknapp said: “That’s 17 goals now for him this season in the Premier League, that’s some return for someone that’s not had a good season isn’t it?”
Jamie 🗣 "17 goals for him this season, some return for somebody not having a good season."
Roy 🗣 "He's such a big problem for United, scoring goals week in, week out, it's not good."
Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp on Cristiano Ronaldo for #MUFC pic.twitter.com/oRCRW0YjkU
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 28, 2022
Keane jokingly replied: “Yeah he’s such a big problem for [Manchester] United, scoring goals week in week out. It’s not good.”
Carragher previously said it would be ‘mistake’ for United to keep Ronaldo
Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher previously suggested it was a ‘mistake’ to re-sign Ronaldo, and that it would be a ‘mistake’ to keep him next season.
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Carragher claimed that Ronaldo was causing more problems than solutions. He also told United when to get rid of the forward.
“United made a mistake re-signing Ronaldo last summer. It will be a bigger one keeping him next season,” he said.
Carragher added: “There is noise generated every time after another disappointing result. There is noise every time a story is leaked about him ‘considering his future’ at the end of the season.
“And there is noise when we notice the underwhelmed reaction whenever United score and Cristiano Ronaldo is not the goalscorer, as was the case when Marcus Rashford struck a last-minute winner against West Ham in January.
“When a manager leaves out a 37-year-old, there should not be any noise.
“No single player can ever be bigger than the club. And no-one knew that better than Sir Alex Ferguson who, in 2006, sold one of the Premier League most prolific goalscorers, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, because he felt the striker’s personal hunger for goals was inhibiting the progress of younger, emerging team-mates.
“If [Ronaldo’s] United reunion is limited to one season, letting him go will solve more problems than it creates.”
Ronaldo is currently the joint-second top goalscorer in the Premier League, tied on 17 with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min.
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