The undisputed and heavyweight Champions of the World Tyson Fury have claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence at Manchester United has suppressed and overshadowed the growth and progress of the young player at Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named Manchester United player of the season after impressing in his second return to the Old Trafford. The 37 years old Portugal international scored 24 goals in 39 appearances for Manchester United including 18 goals in the Premier.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s impressive performance for Manchester United, Tyson Fury believes his arrival at Manchester United has crippled the progress of the young players in the United squad.
What did Tyson Fury say?
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, The heavyweight champion said: “It’s good news Ronaldo is staying on, but here’s a theory: when they didn’t have him the season before last, they finished second in the Premier League, then we had Ronaldo and we finished sixth.
“People will say, ‘Well, if we hadn’t had him scoring 20 goals we’d have finished a lot lower last season, but we didn’t the season before and we finished a lot higher.
“When you have a superstar like Ronaldo, everybody relies on him to score goals and if he wasn’t there they’d be scoring the goals themselves like they did the season before last. I’m not saying he’s a bad asset, he’s a great asset, but sometimes with a star player, he carries the team and the young people are overshadowed by it all, they don’t get their chance to shine because ‘the great Ronaldo’ is on the pitch.”
Players like Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes who used to be running the show at Manchester United before the arrival of Ronaldo have seen their performance and form decline last season.
Meanwhile, Tyson Fury claims there are too many “prima donnas” at Manchester United.
According to Tyson Fury, the standard at the club has fallen and there is a need for the club’s top hierarchy to clear out the deadwood.
Fury added: “I’ll be getting to Old Trafford a little bit more now I’m retired – although, to be honest, every time I go there to watch them, they lose. And I don’t do second place, I don’t do losing, I don’t do all that sh*t. It’s win or nothing, so watching United at the moment, it’s crazy because I don’t get why these people aren’t running after that ball for 90 minutes.
“A lot of people blame the managers, the coaches, but at the end of the day there are too many prima donnas at Manchester United and the best thing that could have happened is having a clear-out, like what’s happening. They need to knuckle down.
“They need someone strict, like Sir Alex Ferguson, who’s going to tell them what to do and if they’re not listening say, ‘It’s the bench for you, I don’t care how good you are or how famous you are, you’re not playing until you decide to work hard. The word ‘team’ means everybody pulls their weight, they don’t rely on someone else to score the goals or to run for them.
“It’s everyone working hard for a common interest, a common goal, and that’s winning. I know nothing about managing football but I know everything about winning and I know everybody has to muck in to get results. If I go into the gym on my own to train for a world title then I’m not going to be that successful.
“Which is why I have a full team — my masseuse, my strength-and-conditioning guy, my sparring partners, coaches, that sort of stuff — and we’re all pulling in the same direction to go in there and get results because that’s what’s needed. If some of these guys are pulling in different directions and doing it for their own benefit, we wouldn’t be getting the results year in, year out.”
