Jamie Carragher thinks Cristiano Ronaldo “wants to be sacked” by Manchester United, and has the Liverpool legend has urged the club to do just that.
Ronaldo said that head coach Erik ten Hag and others want him out of Old Trafford during a 90-minute interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, which will be broadcast this week on TalkTV.
The 37-year-old said he doesn’t “respect” Ten Hag, claimed he didn’t know who Ralf Rangnick was and took aim at Wayne Rooney’s appearance following criticism from his former Red Devils teammate.
After initially having his say on Twitter, Carragher spoke to Sky Sports about the interview.
The Liverpool icon believes Ronaldo wanted all of the attention to be on him after United beat Fulham 2-1 on Sunday evening.
“I thought it was bizarre,” Carragher said.
“I think it was bang out of order, considering the timing of it, on the back of Manchester United fans at Fulham, watching at home, winning goal last kick of the game, gives a real buzz for them and excitement for the next month.
“They should be enjoying themselves and then the Ronaldo interview comes out and then boom, all the talk is negativity, it’s not about the team, it’s not about the manager, it’s all about Cristiano Ronaldo.
“It feels like it’s been like that since he’s come back.
“It’s basically been the Cristiano Ronaldo show and at times that has been good on the pitch and last season he got a lot of goals.
“This season, because he’s not involved, it feels like he is still craving the attention that he can’t get because he’s not actually on the pitch.
“The only way he is going to do that is by causing trouble.
“That is exactly what he did and that was exactly his intention.”
Carragher then went on to say that it is “obvious” the interview was a ploy for Ronaldo to be “sacked” by United.
“He wants to be sacked, I think that’s obvious,” he continued.
“He told the club in the summer he wanted to leave, so I’m not sure where this ‘disrespect’ comes from [with] Erik ten Hag, I just don’t get that at all.
“I think he is disrespecting Man United and Erik ten Hag.
“He wanted to leave in the summer – which is football, these things happen, players want to come and go at different times – but he wanted to leave.
“There were no takers, because maybe his wages, maybe a price Manchester United wanted, and I think he knows that is going to be the same in this next transfer window and maybe the following summer.
“I think he is now trying to basically be sacked or allowed to leave on a free by the club because that is the only way he’s going to get out.”
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While Ronaldo wants to get his P45 through the door, Carragher believes the Premier League should give him the boot.
“I think they should sack him or move him on, whether that is giving them a free transfer,” the former England defender added.
“At the moment they are trying to build something that is not ready to win the Premier League or Champions League right now.
“They’ve got a manager who in the next two or three years is going to really want to push for those honours and Ronaldo is not going to be around.
“He is going to be a distraction, this is not going to go away.
“As soon as a player comes out and says he doesn’t respect the manager, how is that going to work when he walks into the start of the season again after the World Cup?
“It can’t work going forward.
“Again, there will be people taking pictures, we will be looking for interviews on Sky from the manager, we will be asking about Ronaldo. You don’t need the hassle and that’s exactly why I said 18 months ago it was a massive mistake to bring Ronaldo to the club.
“This was always going to happen. It was always going to end like this.
“He couldn’t accept being a sub, which in some ways I admire, he has got that drive and that is what has made him the great player he is, but this was always going to happen and blow up in United’s face and that’s why it was a massive mistake to bring him in the first place.”
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