Manchester United great Eric Cantona believes Cristiano Ronaldo could have handled his second spell at Old Trafford in a different manner.
Cristiano Ronaldo must accept “he is not 25 years old” anymore and follow the examples of veterans Ryan Giggs, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paolo Maldini.
That was the message from Manchester United great Eric Cantona, who referenced the leading role Ibrahimovic has played at Milan despite his status diminishing to a squad role.
Ronaldo parted ways with United in an acrimonious exit after stating he felt “betrayed” by the club and had little respect for Red Devils head coach Erik ten Hag and former interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The Portugal forward started just 10 of United’s 21 matches prior to his departure, though Cantona suggested the 37-year-old should have handled the situation in a different manner.
Ibrahimovic played through injury as Milan ended an 11-year wait for the Scudetto last term, scoring eight goals in 23 Serie A games to support Stefano Pioli’s regular starters Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao.
Cantona told CalcioMercato: “There are two types of veterans: those who want to play every game because they still think they’re 25 and those who realise they’re not 25 and are here to help young players, they know they won’t play every game, but they’re aware that they’ll have their moment.
“There are players who help new players: Ibrahimovic still does it with Milan, Ryan Giggs or Maldini himself when he was at Milan.
“Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t realise he’s not 25 years old. He’s already older and doesn’t know that, instead of being unhappy about not having played all the time, he should accept the situation.”
Ronaldo could make his debut for Al Nassr against Ettifaq next Sunday after missing clashes with Al Tai and Al Shabab due to a two-match ban from the English Football Association.
ManUtdAmadDialo
633
Pepe right now be like:- Cantona's parents were born in Argentina nd they migrated to France[Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
Iffy106
574
Shame on haters again. I said this before now that CR7 needs to accept the fact that he's not young he's getting older and he shouldn't be expecting all this young talented players to be working for him. he should work for them like a legend. Shame on haters again and Shame on all CR7 fans they know nothing about football
eggosa91
551
forget hate Ronaldo is the best player ever in football history NO CAP
Echee27
368
keep on talking while Ronaldo keeps on making money in daily basis
eggosa91
270
the only player who has done it in football #Ronaldo #greatness # three peat
D10S_LM10
247
You can't talk like this about a player who scored hat-trick in WC final and won first ever WC for Portugal against his life long rival.
Demiadd
212
His fans will hate Cantona for telling the truth n tell him he’s not as successful as Ronaldo. That’s always their counter argument. As if you need to be as successful as a person to speak an uncomfortable truth about them. Ronaldo fan logic.
footballfr3ak
8
forget hate Ronaldo is the best player ever in football history NO CAP
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not even 2nd best