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‘It will get ugly’ – Roy Keane and Micah Richards clashed over shock Cristiano Ronaldo decision
The first Manchester derby of the season is upon us, and it always throws up big moments. Manchester United have slipped way behind their inner-city rivals Manchester City in recent years, but they still have a good derby record. Pep Guardiola is looking for a derby win to kickstart the seasonGetty However, one match that Man United fans will want to wipe from the memory was a 6-3 defeat at the Etihad in October 2022. It proved to be Cristiano Ronaldo‘s final Manchester derby before his departure to Al-Nassr, though he didn’t get on the pitch. Instead, he was an unused substitute as City ran riot, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scoring hat-tricks. The hosts were 4-0 up at half time as Ronaldo watched on, and it led to a heated debate between two Sky Sports pundits. Micah Richards and Roy Keane clashed over whether Man United had disrespected Ronaldo both in the game and as a whole. Ronaldo’s face told its own storySky Sports Ronaldo couldn’t even watch as his side were dismantledSky Sports Keane believed that Man United were going to keep Ronaldo on the bench for the season, and he couldn’t believe it. He said: “You don’t hold onto Ronaldo to sit on the bench. He is one of the greatest players ever. “He had options, this idea that he had no options is rubbish. He had five very good options [to leave that summer]. “Okay, the manager [Erik ten Hag] brought [Anthony] Martial on, and he scored two, so that’s justified, but the bigger picture is he’s not going to play Ronaldo, we know that. “It’s just going to get uglier as the season goes on. But if he’s sitting on the bench for Man United week in, week out – it’s not good. “I think Man United have shown nothing but disrespect to Ronaldo, and they should have let him go when the opportunity came. “Holding onto him to sit him on the bench, I think is ridiculous. “He could have brought him on. So what if you are 4-0 down, you look at his goals record, he’s got as good a chance as anyone of scoring goals.” Keane staunchly defended his former teammate after Ronaldo watched from the sidelinesGetty Richards then offered his view, and said: “They couldn’t win. If they sold him, there would have been uproar at Man United.” Keane interjected: “Not if he wasn’t going to play, and Martial was always coming back. I don’t agree, Micah.” Richards continued: “You can’t go into a season with [Marcus] Rashford and Martial as your number nines. “Season-by-season, consistently, they haven’t done it.” Specifically on Ronaldo’s failure to move that summer, Keane went in on Man United. “Out of respect for the player, you make a deal happen to suit all parties. “Martial was always coming back and Rashford has started the season well. “You don’t keep Ronaldo just to sit on the bench – they are disrespecting him 100 per cent. “I don’t agree with it, and I think it will get ugly as the season goes on because he’s going to be getting frustrated.” Sky SportsKeane and Richards are always box office[/caption] Keane was having none of RichardsSky Sports Richards then brought up Ten Hag’s style of play, and Keane lost it. “Ahhhhhh, here we go.” Richards: “You come to the Etihad, you know Man City are going to have the majority of the ball…” Keane: “They got hammered anyway! We talk about pressing, it’s the new buzzword in football. “I don’t care about a player not pressing if he is going to get me 20/25 goals. He was top goalscorer for Man United last year, but I don’t think he was doing too much pressing then.” Richards continued: “I am saying, the way the manager wants to set up now, coming to the Etihad…” Keane then got involved again: “They were 4-0 down at half time! The manager was wrong!” It was quite a spectacular argument, and in the end, Keane was right, as Ronaldo soon left Old Trafford, with his contract mutually terminated. In the short term, it proved to be a good thing, as Man United finished third and won the Carabao Cup. Of course, since that year, it has been downhill for the Red Devils. Ten Hag and Ronaldo never saw eye-to-eyeAFP Ten Hag and Ronaldo’s relationship In terms of predictions for how things would end, Keane couldn’t have been more spot on because Ten Hag and Ronaldo’s relationship soon publicly collapsed after this game. During an exclusive Piers Morgan interview, while he was still a Man United player, Ronaldo tore into Ten Hag. He said: “The coach didn’t have respect for me. “So this is why the relationship, it’s in that way. He keeps saying in the press that he come to me, he like me blah, blah, blah, but that is only for the press, 100 per cent. “If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never going to have respect for you.” Given he was still employed by Man United at the time, it was quite a staggering claim. It would be fair to say that Ronaldo’s second Old Trafford stint didn’t go to planGetty Sure enough, his
The first Manchester derby of the season is upon us, and it always throws up big moments.
Manchester United have slipped way behind their inner-city rivals Manchester City in recent years, but they still have a good derby record.
However, one match that Man United fans will want to wipe from the memory was a 6-3 defeat at the Etihad in October 2022.
It proved to be Cristiano Ronaldo‘s final Manchester derby before his departure to Al-Nassr, though he didn’t get on the pitch.
Instead, he was an unused substitute as City ran riot, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scoring hat-tricks.
The hosts were 4-0 up at half time as Ronaldo watched on, and it led to a heated debate between two Sky Sports pundits.
Micah Richards and Roy Keane clashed over whether Man United had disrespected Ronaldo both in the game and as a whole.
Keane believed that Man United were going to keep Ronaldo on the bench for the season, and he couldn’t believe it.
He said: “You don’t hold onto Ronaldo to sit on the bench. He is one of the greatest players ever.
“He had options, this idea that he had no options is rubbish. He had five very good options [to leave that summer].
“Okay, the manager [Erik ten Hag] brought [Anthony] Martial on, and he scored two, so that’s justified, but the bigger picture is he’s not going to play Ronaldo, we know that.
“It’s just going to get uglier as the season goes on. But if he’s sitting on the bench for Man United week in, week out – it’s not good.
“I think Man United have shown nothing but disrespect to Ronaldo, and they should have let him go when the opportunity came.
“Holding onto him to sit him on the bench, I think is ridiculous.
“He could have brought him on. So what if you are 4-0 down, you look at his goals record, he’s got as good a chance as anyone of scoring goals.”
Richards then offered his view, and said: “They couldn’t win. If they sold him, there would have been uproar at Man United.”
Keane interjected: “Not if he wasn’t going to play, and Martial was always coming back. I don’t agree, Micah.”
Richards continued: “You can’t go into a season with [Marcus] Rashford and Martial as your number nines.
“Season-by-season, consistently, they haven’t done it.”
Specifically on Ronaldo’s failure to move that summer, Keane went in on Man United.
“Out of respect for the player, you make a deal happen to suit all parties.
“Martial was always coming back and Rashford has started the season well.
“You don’t keep Ronaldo just to sit on the bench – they are disrespecting him 100 per cent.
“I don’t agree with it, and I think it will get ugly as the season goes on because he’s going to be getting frustrated.”
Richards then brought up Ten Hag’s style of play, and Keane lost it.
“Ahhhhhh, here we go.”
Richards: “You come to the Etihad, you know Man City are going to have the majority of the ball…”
Keane: “They got hammered anyway! We talk about pressing, it’s the new buzzword in football.
“I don’t care about a player not pressing if he is going to get me 20/25 goals. He was top goalscorer for Man United last year, but I don’t think he was doing too much pressing then.”
Richards continued: “I am saying, the way the manager wants to set up now, coming to the Etihad…”
Keane then got involved again: “They were 4-0 down at half time! The manager was wrong!”
It was quite a spectacular argument, and in the end, Keane was right, as Ronaldo soon left Old Trafford, with his contract mutually terminated.
In the short term, it proved to be a good thing, as Man United finished third and won the Carabao Cup.
Of course, since that year, it has been downhill for the Red Devils.
Ten Hag and Ronaldo’s relationship
In terms of predictions for how things would end, Keane couldn’t have been more spot on because Ten Hag and Ronaldo’s relationship soon publicly collapsed after this game.
During an exclusive Piers Morgan interview, while he was still a Man United player, Ronaldo tore into Ten Hag.
He said: “The coach didn’t have respect for me.
“So this is why the relationship, it’s in that way. He keeps saying in the press that he come to me, he like me blah, blah, blah, but that is only for the press, 100 per cent.
“If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never going to have respect for you.”
Given he was still employed by Man United at the time, it was quite a staggering claim.
Sure enough, his contract was soon cancelled, and he departed Europe for eye-watering sums of money in the Middle East.
From there, reports emerged suggesting that Ten Hag had excluded him from training with the first team and being in the dressing room.
This was seen as unnecessary by some of Man United’s more senior players.
Despite this, Ten Hag claimed in August, before his shock sacking by Bayer Leverkusen, that he never had a problem with Ronaldo.
He said: “For me, he’s no problem. He was never the problem and I think that’s the past.
“I think it was what happened. It’s the past and after that, we won two trophies at Manchester United. I wish him all the best for the future and I wish him the best of luck.”
Either way, it’s unlikely Ten Hag is on Ronaldo’s Christmas card list.
