Pietersen blasts Man Utd & Ten Hag over Ronaldo treatment, demands IG post be removed

Former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen slammed Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for the ongoing situation at Old Trafford, involving football great Cristiano Ronaldo. The Dutchman labelled Ten Hag as a clown while responding to a post made by Manchester United, which featured cricketers visiting the football club. “It's T20 World Cup szn. We've welcomed cricketing legends, played at iconic venues and met up with plenty of heroes over the years,” United said while captioning the post.

While the club has removed both Pietersen’s picture and comment from the post, the cricketer’s jibe at the Premier League giants for the unfair treatment of Ronaldo has become one of the most talked about points for the sports world. The Portuguese national made headlines earlier this week for walking out of the field during United’s EPL match against Tottenham Hotspur before the final whistle after he was benched by the coach. The incident ignited outrage from fans and football pandits, as they felt a player of Ronaldo’s calibre is being disrespected by his club. 

Kevin Pietersen’s now-deleted comment on Manchester United’s post

Meanwhile, unleashing a verbal attack on the club, Pietersen said, “Please take my picture down? I don't want an association with a club that's managed by a clown who is completely disrespecting the greatest footballer of our time. @cristiano is the BOSS! That clown who no one will ever remember needs a wake up!”.

Ronaldo has been reportedly axed from the squad for the upcoming match against Chelsea as a punishment for leaving the field even before the match concluded. This was not the first time Ronaldo showed his anger by leaving the field early during a game. He was also seen doing the same during a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano in July.

What else has been said about the incident?

As reported by Dailymail, Erik ten Hag spoke to reporters ahead of the Stamford Bridge clash and said, “After [Rayo] Vallecano, I told him it was unacceptable but not him every one, this is the second time, there are consequences.”. “We miss him tomorrow, it's a miss for the squad but it's important for the attitude and mentality of the group and now we have to focus on Chelsea as that is important,” the manager added. The 37-year-old footballer also shed his thoughts on his actions in an Instagram post on Friday.

“I started very young, the older and most experienced players' examples were always very important to me. Therefore, later on, I’ve always tried to set an example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I’ve represented. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of us,” an excerpt of Ronaldo’s post read.