“He’s started to annoy me” – Man Utd star Cristiano Ronaldo branded “embarrassing” by ex-Premier League star

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Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has aimed a major dig at Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo for his “embarrassing” recent behaviour as he’s struggled to adjust to no longer being a key part of the club’s first-team.

The Red Devils have looked like rebuilding a little under new manager Erik ten Hag this season, with the Dutch tactician making a few new signings and largely looking to change things around, mainly leaving Ronaldo on the bench.

This hasn’t always gone down well, with the Portugal international occasionally spotted shaking his head from the bench, while he even left last week’s game against Tottenham early.

This led to Ten Hag temporarily banishing Ronaldo from the squad, with the 37-year-old training on his own until clear-the-air talks today, as reported by Chris Wheeler in the tweet below…

Still, Petit has been thoroughly unimpressed by Ronaldo, criticising him for not setting a good example or putting his team first.

Petit exclusively told Ladbrokes: Fanzone: “I’m very frustrated about the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United. Things should have been done differently in the best interest of both parties.

“I’ve been a big fan of Cristiano for some time, but recently he’s started to annoy me in terms of his reaction to certain things. His attitude just hasn’t been right, and I’m just thinking to myself ‘he has nothing to prove anymore’.

“He’s one of the best players we’ve ever seen, and I can understand it’s difficult for him to accept his new role, but when you are in a position like Cristiano, you have to set an example to your younger teammates, and act professionally.

Cristiano Ronaldo is enduring a difficult season

“I’m sorry, but we’ve seen so many things happen with him now. We saw what happened in the summer where he didn’t have a pre-season, we saw what he did against Brentford under Ralf Rangnick when he was brought off. A couple of minutes after he was subbed off, Manchester United scored a goal, and I can remember watching him on the bench for a few minutes, it was embarrassing to see.

“Then we had the situation last season with the young supporter’s phone which he smashed at the end of the game, and now you’ve got this story about him leaving the stadium early.

“Football is a great sport, and it’s a privilege to be able to play at the highest level, but I’m sorry, when you’re the stature of someone like Cristiano, you have a responsibility to set an example. You can’t be at the top all of the time, you can’t be getting compliments from the media and from supporters forever, and when you do bad things, people have to talk about it.

“It’s not good for him, for his image, and it’s not the way we want to see his career ending. He needs to take an opportunity to move on somewhere else and bounce back in a proper manner.

“Okay, you were United’s top scorer last season and everything was played through you, but the team plays differently now, under a new manager, and you’re on the bench. Cristiano needs to ask himself one simple question: is he really a professional when he’s behaving like this?

“If you’re putting yourself before your team, don’t be surprised when you’re receiving criticism. For me, it’s bad. It’s bad to see this kind of attitude from him. he has to take responsibility for his actions. ”

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