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Cristiano Ronaldo Slammed For 'Only Thinking About Himself' And Causing Juventus Failure

Cristiano Ronaldo Slammed For 'Only Thinking About Himself' And Causing Juventus Failure

“You can’t have a coach who wants to play football with Cristiano Ronaldo."

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Cristiano Ronaldo has been blamed for Juventus's struggles as he only thinks about himself and is impossible to coach.

The Italian champions have had a difficult season, exiting the Champions League to Porto in the last 16 and currently sit 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan in Serie A, having suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Benevento on Sunday.

Ronaldo is top scorer in Serie A with 23 goals in 24 games. However, according to former Italy striker Antonio Cassano, Ronaldo's selfishness and obsession with his own statistics have made it impossible for new manager Andrea Pirlo to coach the side.

In Cassano's opinion, offloading Ronaldo in the summer and keeping Pirlo is the only way to give the under-pressure Juve manager a fair chance.

"If you sell Cristiano, there's €100 million with which you can sign a couple of top players," said Cassano, speaking on Bobo TV, per the Mirror.

"You can't have a coach who wants to play football with Cristiano Ronaldo. He's a brake on Pirlo.

"Cristiano only thinks about his goals and records. If you're president and you want to start a new cycle, you cannot give a rookie coach the responsibility of coaching someone like Ronaldo."

Outspoken ex-Real Madrid striker Cassano has been vocal in his criticism of Ronaldo in the past.

He accused the five-time Ballon d'Or winner of being a flop at Juventus, because signed Ronaldo to "win the Champions League and they failed."

The 36-year-old superstar may well be making his exit from Turin this summer, although it seems unlikely that a €100 million transfer offer will be on the table. Juve are reportedly willing to accept around €25 million (or £2.1 million) for their current No 7.

On his evidence for why Ronaldo is a challenge to coach, Cassano claimed: "Juventus got rid of a coach [Massimiliano Allegri] who, in the last 20 or 30 years, has produced the best football in Italy and his big problem was one: Cristiano Ronaldo.

"It was for [Maurizio] Sarri and it is for Pirlo.

"Juve already got burned last year, because Sarri was unable to find the right chemistry with him and some other players and what do you do?

"You take another coach who would like to play football and you still have Cristiano Ronaldo as a blocker for that.

"If you have chosen the path of [playing a certain type of] football, Ronaldo is not good."

All imagery: PA Images

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Topics: Serie A, Andrea Pirlo, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo