Gary Neville played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo from 2003 to 2009 (Photo: YouTube/Getty)
Gary Neville is disappointed that Cristiano Ronaldo did not speak to the media after Manchester United’s defeat at Aston Villa last Sunday.
Ronaldo was named as United’s captain at Villa Park where the Red Devils laboured to an embarrassing 3-1 loss in what was Unai Emery’s first game in charge of the home side.
The decision to hand the 37-year-old forward the armband in the absence of Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes was very surprising given Ronaldo’s recent antics and well-known desire to leave Old Trafford as soon as possible.
Ex-United skipper Neville questioned the choice and was scathing of his former teammate for not fulfilling what he perceives as the duties of a captain.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Neville said: ‘He [Ronaldo] went out as the captain of Manchester United and the team lost. Your job is to speak at the end of the match. I’ve been there in that position.
‘If you win, the player who scored the goal or the star man goes out and speaks. If you lose, it’s your goalkeeper, it’s your centre-back or it’s your captain.
‘Why did we not hear from him? He should have been there to say, “this is what we did wrong today, we’re going to work hard for next week and we’re going to be ready for the next game”.’
Ronaldo was Man Utd’s captain for the defeat at Aston Villa (Photo: Getty)
United’s next game just so happens to be against Aston Villa again on Thursday night in the Carabao Cup, their penultimate match before the World Cup break and potentially one of Ronaldo’s last games for the club should he leave in January.
Aside from the occasional social media post, Ronaldo has barely commented on his future plans since handing in a transfer request in the summer.
‘I think he should actually speak, no one’s heard him speak for six months, we don’t hear from him,’ Neville added.
‘I think the reason why I said previously that Manchester United would be better without him and that he would be better without Manchester United was I expect so much of him because I played with him for six years.
‘You take ownership of what happened. You don’t leave it to other people to answer your stuff for you.’
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‘I expect more from him.’
