Liverpool star is making "Cristiano Ronaldo look even worse", claims pundit

Liverpool midfielder James Milner is making Cristiano Ronaldo “look even worse” according to Glenn Murray.

Ronaldo has made headlines this week for his tell-all TalkTV interview with Piers Morgan in which he is scathing of Manchester United, his former team-mates and admits he does not respect his manager, Erik ten Hag.

Days earlier Milner, who is widely considered to be a model professional, made his 600th appearance in the Premier League as his Liverpool side beat Brighton.

Former Crystal Palace and Brighton striker Murray has lauded Milner for setting an example and stressed that several teams would happily take the 36-year-old midfielder on board.

In the same breath, Murray claimed that Ronaldo has “closed doors around him” with his behaviour this term.

Ronaldo “looks even worse”

Ronaldo’s bombshell interview sees the five-time Balon d’Or winner slate Man Utd’s owners the Glazers, as well as the manager and former team-mates Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney.

Of course, the Portugal star stops short of blaming himself for any of Man Utd’s woes, and Murray believes there's a difference between Ronaldo’s behaviour and Milner’s more low-key personality.

The former Palace striker told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It makes Ronaldo look even worse leading into this story, doesn’t it?

“600 appearances. Everything good you can say about James Milner.

“I was reading something about an evaluation when he was 12, so it was in 1998, and even then, it said ‘natural leader, sets good examples, a great attitude and very confident'”.

“24 years later, you can actually say exactly the same about him. For me, we question Cristiano Ronaldo about not evolving as you demise as a footballer, which is natural as a footballer. He, for me, has evolved through a massive change in football. Technically, tactically and physically.

“But also you can start to see him nurture people around him and that is the right way to end a football career, not that it is at the end yet – I think his whole demeanour opens up a lot of options for him, but whereas what we say with Ronaldo, it has closed a lot of doors on him. No one wants to take him when you act like that.

“Milner, week in and week out, he does as he is told. He is a team player. Why wouldn’t you take him on to drop those pearls of wisdom in the team around him.”

Topics: Football, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, James Milner

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.