Ole blasts back at Rio over Ronaldo ‘coaching’ claims

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has hit out at former team-mate Rio Ferdinand for suggesting Cristiano Ronaldo was trying to do the manager’s job during their Champions League defeat by Young Boys on Tuesday.

Ferdinand said he would have ordered Ronaldo to sit down after claiming the 36-year-old superstar had hollered ‘instructions’ from the technical area after being substituted in the 2-1 loss.

But Solskjaer has fired back by saying Ferdinand got his facts wrong and is adamant Ronaldo has not expected any special treatment since his return to Old Trafford.

Ronaldo has scored three goals in his two games played so far and faces West Ham at the London Stadium today.

‘Rio, again, sometimes he comments on things he doesn’t really know,’ said Solskjaer about the TV pundit. ‘It should’ve been a yellow for Martins Pereira when he brought down Nemanja Matic. Both Bruno (Fernandes) 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. That was the aggravation of getting a few bad decisions against us. But then Cristiano sat down, Bruno sat down. We know only one man is allowed in that technical area and that’s either me or Carras (Michael Carrick), Mick (Phelan) or Kieran (McKenna).

‘It was just spur of the moment, he should have been sent off, 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 the players, no.’

Ronaldo mania has broken out at United, though there have also been concerns his presence will restrict the likes of Mason Greenwood and impact on their style. But Solskjaer says he has not had to change things to accommodate one of football’s biggest legends and that Ronaldo has been a team player.

‘All new players, you manage the training sessions because they have to get used to the way we do things,’ he said. ‘But Cristiano has been here before, he knows how we do things and we have not really had to adapt any training at all.

‘Tactically, he gets what we want from him. It is about getting the best out of the team, not one player. You can say you want the best out of Bruno, the best out of Mason, the best out of Jadon (Sancho) or Anthony (Martial).

‘We have so many players, the whole point is we work together as a team. The stronger the collective, the more chance for an individual to get goals or assists, then we celebrate together.’