"I suggest he pipes down" - Piers Morgan rips into Wayne Rooney after Manchester United legend's Cristiano Ronaldo claim

English TV broadcaster Piers Morgan has hit out at Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney after the latter's recent claims about forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

The DC United manager claimed that the Portuguese shouldn't start Manchester United's match against Liverpool, but Morgan believes the contrary.

Ronaldo is looking to leave the club after the Red Devils failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League last season. He missed their pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. His attitude in his team's back-to-back Premier League losses has also been criticised.

In his column for The Times, Rooney shared his two cents about his former team-mate ahead of Manchester United's clash against rivals Liverpool on August 22. The DC United manager wrote:

"Against Liverpool, I wouldn't play Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn't play Marcus Rashford. If I was in [Erik] Ten Hag's position, my main concern would be getting energy on the pitch. Ronaldo looked like he needs time to get match fit."

He continued:

"He has also let it be known that he wants to leave the club. I don't know his reasons but, as I wrote in my last column, I'd let him leave – he's a great player and will always score goals, but the task for Ten Hag is to produce a team that can compete for the title in three or four years' time. That means rebuilding with younger players."

Taking to Twitter, however, Morgan came to the defense of the 37-year-old attacker and lambasted Rooney for his opinion. He wrote:

"Rooney has a managerial win record of 28% and his DC United team lost 6-0 yesterday. So I suggest he pipes down with the management advice and endless jealous b***hing about @cristiano whose talent, success & fitness levels all dwarf Rooney’s."

Ronaldo was the club's top-scorer with 24 goals last campaign. He is expected to stay at Manchester United this season after the arrival of midfielder Casemiro from Real Madrid, as per Pedro Almeida.

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