Cristiano Ronaldo SLAMS greedy Glazers during interview with Piers Morgan - is he right?
United’s star blasted the American-based owners - Images via @Gerry_Deakin.
Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that the Glazer family “don’t really care” about Manchester United’s on-field success, saying their focus in on the “marketing” aspects of the club.
Former teammates Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville were also under fire from the Portuguese, as well as ex-interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who was labelled by Ronaldo as a “sport director” and not a manager.
Speaking with Piers Morgan on TalkTV in an exclusive 90-minute interview, Ronaldo criticised the controversial family: “The owners of the club, they don’t care about the club. As you know this, Manchester [United] is a marketing club. They will get money from the marketing and they don’t really care about the sport, in my opinion.”
Ronaldo held nothing back - Image via @PiersUncensored, @TalkTV.
When asked by Morgan whether he talks to the Glazers, Ronaldo said: “Never. They give all the power to the president and sporting director.”
The 37-year-old linked this by sharing his thoughts on the club’s poor infrastructure: “I don’t know what is going on, but since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club. The progress was zero. Nothing changed. Surprisingly. Not only the pool, but the jacuzzi, even the gym… Even the technology, the kitchen, the chefs, which I appreciate, they are lovely persons.
They (the club) stopped in a time, which surprised me a lot. I thought I will see different things… different technology, infrastructure. But unfortunately, we see many things that I used to see when I was 20, 21, 23. So it surprised me a lot,” Ronaldo added.
Ronaldo has been an isolated figure at United for the past six months, with reports circulating during the summer transfer window that the star wanted to leave.
It is now even harder to see a way back for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who said he does not respect manager Erik ten Hag and feels “betrayed” by the club.
The Red Devils were already planning for life without Ronaldo before clips of the interview were published across social media on Sunday night, but that process is now set to be accelerated.
Chris Wheeler, football writer for the Daily Mail, reported this afternoon that Ronaldo will effectively be 'sacked' for breach of contract by the club, is set to lose £16 million in wages, and is not welcome back after the World Cup in Qatar.
The majority of responses from Ronaldo’s interview has been negative, although the quotes regarding the Glazers have been very well received - why?
The Glazers have been labelled as ‘poisonous’ by fans - Images via @Gerry_Deakin.
United’s owners have been disliked by supporters from day one, after they purchased the club via a leveraged takeover in 2005, which plunged a club that had enormous financial reserves into £660 million worth of debt.
Whilst this was divided between the club and Red Football, the investment company used to purchase the club, the Glazers took full responsibility for paying the interest. Subsequently, between 2006 and 2010, United paid on average £95 million per year in interest.
Many supporters at the time felt the club’s revenues should be reinvested into the infrastructure, such as the stadium, training ground, academy and first team, rather than being used to deal with issues caused by the Glazers’ takeover.
In 2010, United played A.C Milan in the first knockout round of the Champions League, defeating the Italian side 4-0 at the club’s home stadium, Old Trafford.
On the night, United’s supporters conducted a highly visible visual protest against the Glazers’ ownership, wearing green and gold scarves inside the stadium, symbolising the colours worn when the club was first founded in 1878.
The ‘Green and Gold’ campaign in full effect - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
David Beckham, the former United academy graduate from the star-studded ‘Class of ‘92’, was playing for Milan at the time. During the full-time scenes, Beckham picked up one of the scarves and wrapped it over his shoulders, a clear acknowledgement of the fans and their passionate protest.
Whilst many thought this could potentially kickstart a revolution at the club, United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson kept them successful, winning a total of five Premier League titles and reaching three finals between the Glazer takeover in 2005 and his retirement in 2013.
Because of this, the conflict between United fans and the owners failed to reach any levels of consistency, that is until 2021.
In a move that shocked the world, the European Super League was announced, a breakaway tournament where 12 of the biggest football clubs on the continent would be guaranteed to take part in the richest competition, regardless of their form in domestic leagues.
United were one of the 12 ‘founding members’ of the competition, with Joel Glazer being named vice-chairman when the announcement was made.
Due to the outcry of angry supporters opposing the decision, the European Super League project was abandoned two days after its announcement.
Joel Glazer himself apologised to the fans in an open letter after the plans for the league collapsed, but this was rejected in a serious manner. Hundreds of United supporters decided enough was enough, and broke into Old Trafford ahead of a behind-closed-doors game against Liverpool.
Old Trafford was stormed by thousands of angry United fans - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
The contest was originally scheduled for a 4.30 GMT kick-off on Sunday, May 2nd, before being delayed and then called off completely.
A crowd of around 200 had also gathered at the Lowry hotel in the Manchester city centre, where the United team stay before matches.
Supporters have been forced to accept that their once great club has become a shadow of their former self, failing to even challenge for the Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The club have only reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals twice since 2013 as well, falling behind their two biggest rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, who have won six league titles and one Champions League between them in that time.
Even though they seem to not care about their failure to return United to its former glory, the Glazers have certainly felt the effects financially, shelling £59 million to pay-off sacked managers and coaching staff since 2013, such as Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
Pie chart by Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
United’s gross debt remains under £600 million too, with the club’s £384 million wage bill the highest ever in the Premier League, even after finishing sixth and failing to qualify for the Champions League last season.
Bar chart by Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
If the club had enjoyed success on the pitch the wages would have been even higher, due to the bonus payments included in certain player’s contracts.
Regardless of these losses, the Glazers are the only owners in the Premier League to take dividends out of a club (£156 million since 2016).
Bar chart by Noah McIlroy (@NsmUnited).
All of these factors have persistently frustrated large sections of the United fanbase, which has resulted in numerous protests being organised in recent seasons, with chants, banners, flares and more all condemning the family ownership.
‘Mutiny Until our Football Club is sold - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
Supporters making their way to the stadium during one of the ‘Glazers Out’ protests - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
Coming back to Cristiano Ronaldo, reports circulated in May of this year that the 37-year-old felt the club’s facilities were not in-line with a best-in-class institution.
United claimed to have long-term plans to improve the club’s training ground beforehand, but decided to make some early modifications based on the concerns highlighted by Ronaldo, specifically refurbishing the club’s swimming pool and sauna, neither of which had been touched since Ronaldo left the club back in 2009.
A metaphorical depiction of Manchester United and its stadium’s decline - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
Although it’s good to see that some of the ‘infrastructure’ was renovated, the fact that it took Ronaldo questioning club officials shows how neglected United had become under the Glazer family.
There are still other issues regarding the club’s infrastructure that remain incomplete, such as the stadium leaking in certain areas - both inside and out.
Steven, also known as @ManUtdMaverick on Twitter, has been a supporter of the club for over 30 years, and believes that Ronaldo’s comments on the Glazers and the lack of change at the club are valid, but the criticism of his manager Erik ten Hag was “unjust”:
Image via @ManUtdMaverick.
“The manager has supported Ronaldo at every turn and been fair in the process, even when disciplining him for leaving games early. We don’t know the full extent of their dynamics, but Erik ten Hag gave Cristiano redemption by making him captain on his return from that incident, and has constantly spoken highly of the player in the media.
His comments then seem unjust on this particular front,” Steven added.
Steven’s comments have been echoed amongst the masses as well, that Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview has been the ultimate disrespect for Manchester United.
The Portuguese claimed he “prefers to set an example”, yet was the man who walked out on his club during a game against Tottenham Hotspur that was still being played.
He publicly slated his employers, undermined his manager, and fell out with both TV pundits and ex-teammates, unless they defended his behaviour like Roy Keane.
However, it cannot be understated that the points raised by Ronaldo regarding the Glazer family, particularly their lack of care for United’s success and overall infrastructure, are huge, from the man who is the most followed individual on social media.
Many flares have been present during the ‘Glazers Out’ protests - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.
These comments should not only be the main focal point from the interview, but should encourage the thousands of unhappy United supporters to end their unresolvable relationship with the owners once and for all, with continuous protests that finally push the Glazers to sell their share of the football club.
‘Fight for United - Fight Glazers’ - Image via @Gerry_Deakin.