Neville reacts to Carragher slamming ‘indefensible’ Ronaldo as ’embarrassing’ Ferdinand catches strays
Gary Neville struggled to defend former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after Jamie Carragher labelled him “indefensible”.
Ronaldo has been heavily criticised after he spat his dummy out, apparently after being mistreated by Portugal boss Jorge Jesus on international duty.
The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend exited the Portugal camp after he was an unused substitute in the Nations League match against Norway, and he subsequently released a remarkable statement on the situation, in which he acknowledged his attempt to influence Jesus’ decision-making.
Ronaldo has been widely ridiculed for this conduct, but fan boys Rio Ferdinand and Piers Morgan have backed him.
Now, Carragher has hit out at Ferdinand and Morgan for “embarrassing themselves” with Ronaldo “indefensible”.
“People think it’s good to be close to people in the game, but this is where it becomes a problem,” Carragher said on The Overlap Daily.
READ: Big Weekend: Liverpool v Man City, Roberto De Zerbi, Michael Carrick, Viktor Gyokeres, Forest
“People like Piers Morgan and Rio Ferdinand, who are big people in the media whether you like them or not, are embarrassing themselves with the nonsense that they’re coming out with because they know Ronaldo.
“You can know someone and try to look after them, but you cannot defend the indefensible.”
“If you love Ronaldo, it makes him more difficult to like…”
In response, Neville said that Ronaldo will feel he is “unstoppable” and his actions make him “more difficult to like”.
“My view was that I would never criticise Ole Gunnar Solskjær because he conducted himself with great class, whether he was winning or losing,” Neville responded.
READ MORE: Man Utd: Romano reveals ‘clear message’ from Conte about replacing Carrick
“With Cristiano, it’s difficult because I love him, but I can’t watch what happened at United in his second period and then see him make a statement like that without saying something. He [Ronaldo] has to be pulled up on that and told [that it isn’t acceptable].
“The problem is, who is going to tell him? He isn’t going to listen to me or you [Jamie Carragher], but I can’t approve of that statement or pretend it was a good thing to do. If you love Ronaldo, it makes him more difficult to like; if you don’t like him, it makes you dislike him even more.
“I don’t think it’s irretrievable. In another year, when he has retired, we will look back at his greatness and his football, and people might not remember this ending.
“When you have a billion pounds in the bank, the achievements he has had and the power he has, you feel you’re unbreakable, you feel you’re unstoppable.
“You think you can dictate to a federation or a manager what they should say. I’m glad the manager stood his ground. If he had read those eight points out [in Ronaldo’s social media statement], he [Ronaldo] would have lost a lot of his soul.”
READ NEXT: Shearer makes Man Utd v Spurs prediction as Carrick ‘noise’ tipped to reach fever pitch
