Redundant Ronaldo

Peter Anderson ⚽️ As the old adage goes: there's no fool like an old fool.

Cristiano Ronaldo may only be 37, but for a footballer he's old. And a fool. In an interview with Piers Morgan he has slagged off his club Manchester United, his manager Eric ten Haag and even his old mate Wayne Rooney. His main gripe is that Manchester United are trying to force him out and that ten Haag is "disrespecting" him. Poor lamb. There is always something unclassy about washing your dirty linen in public, but then CR7 has always lacked class. There can be no denying his abundance of skill, but he has never floated my boat. In the Messi v CR7 debate, I am firmly in the Messi camp.

I never took to CR7, but I suppose that is because he played for my city rivals at Man U. He was their new protege, all greased hair and step overs. I hoped he would fail. He didn't. He proved all us doubters wrong and became a wonderful player. When I moved to Madrid and became an Atletico "supporter", he also moved to the city to play for my new city rivals at Real. The Madrileños didn't take to him much either. He was often described as being a "chulo", a working-class boy who gets riches but not class. Similar to the English pejorative "chav". At Real, he was never loved like Casillas was or Raúl before him. At United he tortured City on many occasions and at Real he did the same with Atletico. So, it is not surprising that I prefer Messi. I may be extremely biased, but Messi possessed a purer skill and an air of humility with it. CR7 doesn't do humility. His latest interview being a case in point. In football, no-one is bigger than the club. Ronaldo should remember that.

He is rightly pissed off that Man U were shit last season. That season was a disaster. Solksjaer crashed the bus and then Ralph Something was brought in to "take the club on". He actually took them backwards. I doubt CR7 has played under a worse manager, or a worse captain in Hairy Maguire. CR7 was expecting UCL qualification and when that didn't happen, he tried to force his way out. It was obvious that the only thing he was interested in was adding to his UCL goals tally, in his personal race with Messi for European immortality. His attempt to find a club in the UCL for this season was an embarrassing failure. Nobody wanted him. Add in a new manager at Man U, ten Haag, with new ideas, wanting to inject youth and dynamism into his failing team and CR7 is not in his plans. How could he be? At 37 CR7 should have accepted the reality of his situation and bowed out with class. Instead, we get this charade.

The cherry on the pie is having a pop at Rooney. Famously, when they were together at Man U, Rooney was pictured in The Sun on holiday with his mates smoking, drinking and eating burgers. CR7 advised him, for the sake of career longevity, to wise up. Rooney didn't listen. In the interview CR7 couldn't resist having a pop at Rooney, stating that Rooney was jealous that Ronaldo was still playing at the top level. He also stated that he was better looking than Rooney. Stating the obvious maybe, but certainly uncalled for.

All in all, I'm scundered for Ronaldo. I had hoped that age would mellow him and he would leave the world stage with my grudging respect. Instead, he has just let himself down massively. I doubt many will be surprised.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.