Some of Cristiano Ronaldo's criticisms of Manchester United have now been echoed by one of the former coaches at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo's second spell Old Trafford ended in acrimonious fashion, as the veteran forward was involved in well-publicised fallout with manager Erik ten Hag.
The Portugal superstar did a tell-all interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan in November 2023, blasting his then-manager and the club for failing to improve facilities at the team's Carrington training ground.
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During that bombshell interview, he said: "I don't know what's going on but since Sir Alex Ferguson left I saw no evolution in the club, the progress was zero. Nothing changed. Surprisingly.
"Not only the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym… Even some points, the technology, the kitchen, the chefs, which is, I appreciate, lovely persons. They stopped in a time, which surprised me a lot."
Ex-United assistant coach Mike Phelan has since echoed Ronaldo's observation of the club's progress, while insisting that the calibre of a player may have an impact on how they view club training facilities.
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"I think Cristiano realised as well, and you have to understand that all these players in the Premier League, they have these facilities at home, it's amazing really," said Phelan, who was the club's assistant between 2018 and 2022, according to the Manchester Evening News.
"They have chefs and they have kitchens that cost more than my house. They have saunas, gyms, pools, they have gardens that stretch for three or four acres and they have football pitches in them now.
"You see all the time on TV, it's amazing, and rightly so if they can afford to do that, so their standard of living is huge and they expect that when they come to work and you have to provide that and get better at that.
"Man United had it all there. Yes they had a few portacabins in the carpark and things like that, but tell me a place that doesn't when you need to grow and grow quickly so it's easier to get a portacabin in the carpark than wait to build something.
"Ultimately you need to maintain high standards in order to attract and make those small improvements and each small improvement becomes a bigger thing in the grand scheme of things doesn't it."
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