Cristiano Ronaldo speaks out after storming off down the tunnel in ‘the heat of the moment’
"I’ve always tried to set the example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I’ve represented... unfortunately, that’s not always possible."
Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken out to address the moment he was seen storming off down the tunnel before the end of Manchester United‘s win over Tottenham earlier this week.
The red half of Manchester may be sitting in a somewhat respectable fifth place on the Premier League table at the time of writing, but the team’s impressive 2-0 win over high-flying Spurs on Wednesday night was still undoubtedly a relief for Red Devils’ fans watching on the night after a recent mixed run of matches.
The joyous occasion was, however, a bit marred for some fans by the fact star striker Ronaldo took the decision to head on down the tunnel before the game had even finished.
The Reds were already cruising home to victory thanks to goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes.
But the 37-year-old striker appeared unhappy at his lack of playing time during the match, and while he should have been ready to welcome the rest of his teammates back into the dressing room after their convincing victory, he instead chose to get up from the bench and head for the Old Trafford exit in the 89th minute.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking after the match on Wednesday, manager Erik ten Hag said he would “deal with [Ronaldo] tomorrow” and that his focus for the time being was on celebrating the big win and recovering for their next game this Saturday.
Now, after much fan chatter and speculation about why he chose to exit the pitch early, the Portuguese player has taken to social media to speak out on the matter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Addressing the situation in a post to Instagram, Ronaldo said: “As I’ve always done throughout my career, I try to live and play respectfully towards my colleagues, my adversaries and my coaches. That hasn’t changed. I haven’t changed. I’m the same person and the same professional that I’ve been for the last 20 years playing elite football, and respect has always played a very important role in my decision making process.
“I started very young, the older and most experienced players examples were always very important to me. Therefore, later on, I’ve always tried to set the example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I’ve represented.
“Unfortunately that’s not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Right now, I just feel that I have to keep working hard in Carrington, support my teammates and be ready for everything in any given game.
“Giving in to the pressure is not an option. It never was. This is Manchester United, and united we must stand.
Since ten Hag was appointed manager of Manchester United, footballing veteran and all-time world-leading goalscorer Ronaldo has enjoyed significantly less time on the pitch than he is used to, and while he has scored a couple of goals in the minutes he has played, the feeling is that his contribution to the team’s wider performance is waning.
This isn’t the first time he’s thrown a bit of a strop over being left on the bench this season either, and his attitude towards his lack of minutes has lead to fans and media alike branding his behaviour “childish”, “embarrassing” and “incredibly disrespectful”.
Following the early tunnel exit incident, Manchester United has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be including in the squad to face Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend.
Featured Image – Manchester United
Sport
Phil Foden picks up Premier League Player of the Year for 2023/24
Danny Jones
Manchester City forward Phil Foden has picked up the Premier League’s Player of the Year award for the 2023/24 season.
Having enjoyed the best statistical campaign to date, with two games still left to play, the Stockport-born star City and England star has swept up his first-ever Premier League POTY award at the age of 23.
The attacking midfielder has already swept up Young Player of the Year twice in his career (2021 and 2022), which was awarded to former teammate Cole Palmer on Friday, and this accolade just goes to show how much of a first-team star he’s become over the past couple of years.
With both awards going to Manc footballers and Foden being the first Englishman to win it since Jamie Vardy in 2015/16, you’ll hear no complaints from us.
Foden has 25 goals and 11 assists this season, his highest tally ever, and with the chance of a domestic double still looming, he could be set for another unreal 12 months in sky blue.
Pep Guardiola’s side simply needs to beat West Ham this Sunday to win their fourth consecutive Premier League title and with a Manchester derby FA Cup final waiting for them next week, the local lad has a big fortnight ahead of him.
Having already become a treble winner with Man City last season, not to mention emerging as one of the first names on the team sheet for the Three Lions, he’s graduated from one of the most talented youngsters to one of the most impressive in Europe – and he’s got the stats to back it up.
Here’s hoping he can round off this year with some more silverware while wearing an England shirt. Here are some of his highlights from this season:
A huge congratulations to Phil Foden on winning the 23/24 Premier League Player of the Year; regardless of who you support, you can’t deny he’s been unreal this season.
In fact, his emergence as a senior figure and somewhat of a leader in this current City side has given us a lot faith for the summer and we’re more convinced than ever that Gareth Southgate must try and build around him if we stand a chance of going for in Euro 2024.
Is it coming home and will a lad from Stockport play a big part in bringing it here?
Cole Palmer wins Premier League’s Young Player of the Year for 2023/24
Danny Jones
Manchester-born and bred footballer, Cole Palmer, has won the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year award for 2023/24 following a spectacular breakthrough campaign.
The ex-Manchester City youth product made his big-money move to Chelsea at the start of this season and has been comfortably one of the best players in the league this year, once again proving the old adage that if you’re good enough you’re old enough.
Sitting second in the race for the Golden Boot behind former teammate Erling Haaland and shining as one of the most creative midfielders in Europe in his first full season, you could have banked on him winning it months ago.
🔵⭐️ OFFICIAL: Cole Palmer wins the award as Premier League Young Player of the Year. 🧊
Chelsea star has scored 22 goals and provided 10 assists in Premier League this season. pic.twitter.com/HYpthQiOU3
Having bagged a hattrick in Chelsea’s remarkable turnaround against Manchester United as well as bagging four against Everton, just to name a couple of his most impressive performances over the past 12 months, he doesn’t like a player who only made a handful of appearances last year.
With the 22-year-old fittingly netting 22 goals not to mention 10 assists and quickly establishing himself as Mauricio Pochettino’s main man, despite the multi-billion squad assembled around him, it’s been nothing short of a remarkable emergence onto the biggest stage.
Having earned his first senior international call-up through his efforts too, he now looks set to be one the players England fans are dying to see start at the Euros – the point where many Blues are now wondering whether they made a mistake letting him go.
Congratulations to the Wythenshawe native on his well-deserved award and we sincerely look forward to seeing what he does in an England shirt this summer.
As for who will pick up the outright Premier League Player of the Year, surely Palmer picking up the youth award means that Phil Foden is set to mop up the main prize?
A clean sweep for Manc footballers. We like the sound of that.