Rio Ferdinand and Jamie Carragher got into an argument on Twitter with the Liverpool great accusing his former England teammate of being a Cristiano Ronaldo “fanboy.”
The debate began after Carragher reaffirmed his belief that Erik ten Hag made the proper decision to sit Ronaldo out of Sunday’s 6-3 loss for United to Manchester City.
The 37-year-old remained on the bench throughout the loss at the Etihad. Erik Ten Hag admitted afterwards that he didn’t bring him on in the second half out of “respect” for his career, given the scoreline.
Since Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, Carragher has been a vocal critic of the player. He claimed from the outset that United made a mistake by signing him back to the team.
The Ronaldo Debate
Rio Ferdinand explained that he feels Ronaldo ought to start and thus disagreed with Ten Hag’s choice to bench him.
Carragher thereafter called the criticism of Ten Hag’s decision not to play Ronaldo “laughable.”
The idea that ETH got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable!
Ronaldo played at Brentford when it was 4-0 at ht!!
It’s not a dig at CR, but Rashford’s pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal/Liverpool was 💯the best option.— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 3, 2022
The tweet prompted a response from Ferdinand, who made fun of Carragher. He suggested that he was still upset that Ronaldo had “blanked” him. This referred to earlier in the season when the Portugal captain declined to shake Carragher’s hand.
Carra you still upset he didn’t shake ur hand at Old Trafford? 😂😂
The hardest thing to do in football is score goals… https://t.co/6DflUzEWqJ https://t.co/ZVgB9z4mlq pic.twitter.com/suH8O8dqvH
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) October 3, 2022
Following that, Carragher then claimed that Ferdinand was a part of a group of ex-Manchester United players who defend Ronaldo and labeled him a “fanboy.”
No I’m delighted it went viral!
Rio I know how it works, he’s your mate & you/Evra & the rest are on the group WhatsApp & he asks you to come out & defend him, don’t be his fan boy you’re Rio Ferdinand for FFS!! https://t.co/TNydLRb6YS— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 3, 2022
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Ferdinand refuted the existence of a WhatsApp group for former players and ridiculed Carragher for being “bullied” by former United captain Roy Keane.
What WhatsApp group?! Leave off lad…I want this same energy with Roy keane when ya next in the studio ffs 😂😂😂 stop getting bullied 😂😂😂
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) October 3, 2022
According to some reports on Monday, Ronaldo has been granted approval to leave the team during the January transfer window. The portuguese requested to leave the club in the summer but Ten Hag was keen to keep him.
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