"Don’t be his fan boy" - Jamie Carragher hits back at Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand for his Cristiano Ronaldo comments

Jamie Carragher has taken a dig at Rio Ferdinand for defending Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo after he was benched for the 6-3 loss against Manchester City.

The Portuguese forward notably did not make an appearance off the bench in the local derby against Manchester City on October 2. The Portugal international has featured on the bench for much of this season, having started just one league match.

Erik ten Hag's decision not to play the forward at all has been controversial, leading to former players Carragher and Ferdinand arguing about it.

After the Manchester United manager stated that he left Ronaldo on the bench as respect for his career, Carragher took to Twitter to share his thoughts, saying:

“The idea that Erik ten Hag got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable! Ronaldo played at Brentford when it was 4-0 at half-time! It’s not a dig at Cristiano Ronaldo, but Rashford’s pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal/Liverpool was [100 per cent] the best option.”

Ferdinand responded to Carragher's tweet, mocking the former Liverpool player:

“Carra you still upset he didn’t shake ur hand at Old Trafford? [laughing emojis]. The hardest thing to do in football is score goals..."

The Manchester United legend also added a video clip where he explained about Ronaldo:

“You can’t have your top goalscorer, who gets 24/25 goals a season, on the bench, I’m sorry. I’ve seen Roy Keane talk about it and I totally agree - why are we so concerned with what people don’t do all the time? The hardest thing to do in football is score goals. And this guy does it as good if not better than anybody.”

Carragher hit back at Ferdinand's response, noting that he was delighted that the Portugal captain snubbed him at Old Trafford went viral, before stating:

“Rio I know how it works, he’s your mate and you/Evra [Patrice, former teammate and United left-back] and the rest are on the group WhatsApp and he asks you to come out and defend him, don’t be his fan boy you’re Rio Ferdinand for ***!!”

This was in reference to Manchester United's clash against Liverpool, when the five-time Ballon d'Or snubbed Carragher before the match. The forward shook hands with Roy Keane and Gary Neville during the warmup but ignored the Liverpool legend.

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Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has struggled to find playing time under Erik ten Hag

Prior to the Portuguese forward's stint on the bench for the Manchester derby, he was used as a substitute in five Premier League games. The last time Ronaldo started a league match, the forward was unable to score as Brentford mauled Manchester United 4-0 in the first half.

Ten Hag has opted to leave the forward out of the starting lineup in the Premier League and start him in Europa League games instead.

The former Real Madrid man has notably started games against Real Sociedad and Sheriff, where he opened his scoring for the season with a penalty.

Ronaldo will likely feature in Manchester United's next match against Omonia away in the UEFA Europa League on October 6.