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Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has slammed former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher and asked him to stop talking about Cristiano Ronaldo's ability to press. The Red Devils legend claims the club do not look any better without the Portuguese on the bench.
Manchester United have moved to fifth with 15 points from eight games in the Premier League table after a slow start to the season. They were thrashed 6-3 by Manchester City earlier in the month, but they bounced back to win 2-1 at Everton, with Ronaldo scoring the winner on Sunday.
Speaking on his YouTube channel FIVE, Ferdinand insisted that the narrative has to stop. He backed his former teammate and said:
"People say he doesn't press. If he doesn't press, I will take that argument on the chin and say you are right if other people came in and they looked completely different with the way they press."
Taking shots at Carragher, the former Queens Park Rangers defender said:
"This team looks no better or worse when Ronaldo is playing or not when they're pressing to retrieve the ball, there is no difference. Take that argument out of your mouth, all these people that keep talking about it, Jamie Carragher, you're another one, I don't want to hear it."
Rio Ferdinand on Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United this season
Rio Ferdinand claimed he went crazy after Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal against Everton and added that too many people were disrespecting him.
He said:
"I went nuts when that goal went in because I see too many people disrespecting Cristiano Ronaldo and saying he's the problem. You can't be the problem in a team when you are the one scoring 24 to 26 goals last season.
"I saw a stat the other day. With Haaland, as good as he is doing and we are all going crazy about him and rightly so, for the next 15 years or 16 seasons he's got to score 43 plus goals per season to get to that number, that just puts in into perspective."
The goal against Everton was Cristiano Ronaldo's first in the league this season, and only the second overall. It was also a significant one for the Portuguese star as it was his 700th club goal of his career.
