Premier League: Keane Slams Manchester United For Disrespecting Ronaldo

Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane has criticised the club for disrespecting Cristiano Ronaldo after he was left on the bench for the 6-3 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.

The Portuguese star has lost his place in the team following the arrival of Antony from Ajax in the summer and Ten Hag's decision to stick with a front three of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Antony.

Ten Hag overlooked Ronaldo in the derby defeat, with Anthony Martial coming off the bench to score two goals to reduce the deficit for Manchester United.

Keane believes the legend is being disrespected by the treatment.

“I think Manchester United are just showing disrespect to Ronaldo,” Keane told Sky Sports.

“I think he should’ve been let go before the transfer window [closed].

“I think the manager holding onto him, okay, you say you need options, but if you don’t hold onto Ronaldo to sit on the bench.

“He’s one of the greatest players ever, he had options, this idea that he had no options is rubbish.

"He did have options, four or five very good options.

“Okay, today, the manager brought Martial on, who scored two, so yeah, that’s justified.

"But generally speaking, the bigger picture, he’s not going to play Ronaldo, we know that.

"He’s played in one or two European games, it’s just going to get uglier as the season goes on.

“Okay, Ronaldo’s motivated with the World Cup coming up.

"But if he’s sitting on the bench for Man United week in and week out, it’s not good. It’s just going to get ugly.

“I think United have shown nothing but disrespect to Ronaldo, they should’ve let him go when the opportunity came.

“He did have options, I know that for a fact, and holding onto him to sit on the bench, I think it’s ridiculous for a player of his stature, for Man United to just keep him [on the bench]."

Ronaldo was linked with a move away from Manchester United in the summer, but he ended up staying at Old Trafford.

He is expected to lead Portugal to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.