Cristiano Ronaldo was justified in some of his views on Manchester United which led to his bitter Old Trafford exit.
That is the opinion of ex-Red Devils assistant Mike Phelan, who coached the 39-year-old during his two spells at the Theatre of Dreams.
The Portuguese striker had left the side in 2009 after six glorious years at the club, but in 2021 he delighted United fans by signing for the club once more after leaving Juventus.
However, it was not to be the fairy tale that so many had hoped for following a bitter internal conflict soon overshadowed his return.
Ronaldo failed to make an overwhelmingly positive impact at the club, with the Red Devils finishing in a disappointing sixth place in the 2021/22 season.
It marked the first time season 2010 that Ronaldo had not won at least one trophy in a season.
As resentment continued to brew, he would go on to miss the club’s pre-season tour for the 2022/23 season and the conflict between him and new manager Erik ten Hag escalated as the campaign went on.
The final straw was his groundbreaking interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV in November 2022 where Ronaldo levelled a number of accusations at the club, saying he felt ‘betrayed’.
One of his criticisms was that the club had not progressed during his absence between 2009 and 2021.
Speaking on the White & Jordan show, Phelan, who worked under Sir Alex Ferguson and then under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, admitted that Ronaldo wasn’t wrong in some of his views, particularly when it came to his claims around the lack of progress at the club.
“I do think he had a point,” Phelan told talkSPORT. “There were elements to the training ground that were tired, definitely.
“He’s a high maintenance player… massive standards, huge standards. And he obviously gained a lot of experiences at Manchester United, left, gained even more.
“Coming back, anybody would expect more. You want to move with the times. I don’t think he saw that pretty early in his career at United.
“But when we brought him back, he should’ve seen the feelings around the place and the players. Top, top players in that dressing room just wanted him around – they wanted him.
“It was an unbelievable decision to bring a world class player into that dressing room. And the supporters reacted to it hugely. The lift was remarkable. I just think (his time with the club) ran its course.”
He added: “I’m sure he would have looked at it and thought this is a lot different to what he expected.
“Did he do his homework before? Probably not. Emotionally attached? Yes. And he just expected more and probably it wasn’t there.”
Ronaldo scored 27 goals in 54 appearances during his second period at United – but the club won no major achievements during that time.
His discontent continued to grew and by the time he was suspended by the club for refusing to come on as a substitute in their October 2022 victory over Spurs, tensions were already high.
In his interview with Morgan, the current Al Nassr forward took aim both at manager Ten Hag, as well as at the club’s hierarchy.
When United announced that his contract had been mutually terminated soon after the explosive interview, it did not come as a surprise.
Phelan admitted that there were parts of the culture at United which had come as a shock to Ronaldo upon his return – one of which was the attitude of some of the younger players in the dressing room.
“Those youngsters now have a completely different viewpoint now in a dressing room to when I was a kid, you know, looking up to the next level and respecting the next level,” he said.
“I’m not saying that they didn’t respect (Ronaldo), but they had an edge to them.”
He continued: “I think now and again, it didn’t matter who was in the dressing room. As long as they were in there, that was all that mattered.
“And I think (there were) certain standards that Cristiano probably thought should be there… he was one of the senior players and he expected probably a little bit more from the youngsters. A little bit more determination.
“When Cristiano Ronaldo was at Manchester United, his standards were massive. I mean, his work ethic, his standards, and he maintained that – and he’s still doing it, that’s why he’s playing now.”