Varun Pai
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hit back at Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand over Ronaldo touchline comments
Speaking in an interview (h/t Express), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has responded to the comments of Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand over his touchline comments about Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Red Devils started their UEFA Champions League campaign earlier this week and lost to Young Boys 2-1 after going down to 10 men just over half an hour into the game. During the clash, United star summer signing Ronaldo was brought off but that did not take the Portuguese completely out of the game.
The 36-year-old was seen shouting out instructions from the touchline. This, however, did not go down all too well with club legend and BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand.
The Englishman said (h/t Express):
“If I’m the manager, I’ve got to be honest, I’m telling him to sit down.”
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now responded to these comments and has also provided clarity on the entire situation. Solskjaer said (h/t Express):
“Rio again, you know, sometimes he comments on things he doesn’t really know…Both Bruno and Cristiano, as competitive as they are, suddenly I had them on my shoulder. They were there for a brief spell and shouted to the referee.
“But then Cristiano sat down, Bruno sat down… So I don’t have any problem with them showing some passion and then going back down. It’s not like he (Ronaldo) was coaching his players. No.”
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Thus, the Norwegian manager has defended his players and has ruled out any and all insubordination by them during the game.
Solskjaer’s attention, however, would be on topping the Champions League group now as they also have some tough fixtures ahead of them in the form of last year’s Europa League champions Villarreal and the ever-exciting Italian side Atalanta.
