Gary Neville has explained how Cristiano Ronaldo irked him after Manchester United’s 3-1 loss to Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday.
With club captain Harry Maguire on the bench against the Villains and vice-captain Bruno Fernandes suspended for the trip to Birmingham, Erik ten Hag handed the armband to the 37-year-old against Unai Emery’s side.
Ronaldo, who was making his fourth consecutive start for the Red Devils following the Tottenham Hotspur debacle, couldn’t inspire the twenty-time league champions to victory and he cut a frustrated figure.
Captaining United marked quite the turnaround for United’s number seven after being left out of the squad for the draw against Chelsea after refusing to come on against Spurs and leaving Old Trafford early while his teammates were beating Antonio Conte’s north Londoners.
Gary Neville explains how Cristiano Ronaldo irked him after Aston Villa loss
Ten Hag revealed after the game that David de Gea and Casemiro were in the running to captain United against Villa, but the former Ajax manager opted to go with Portugal’s national team captain.
But after failing to extend our unbeaten run to ten games across all competitions, Neville was hoping for Ronaldo to lead by example and speak to the media after the game with him being captain.
Speaking on The Overlap, United’s former right-back who played alongside Ronaldo under Sir Alex Ferguson said: “I think he should actually speak; no one has heard him speak for six months – we don’t hear from him
“He went out against Villa as the captain of Manchester United and the team lose – your job as captain is to speak at the end of the match.
“Why have we not heard from Cristiano after the game as captain of the club.”
Ronaldo has three goals from 16 appearances for Manchester United this season.
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