Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has finally spoken out about the incident which saw Cristiano Ronaldo smash an Everton supporter’s phone.
The Red devils have given themselves a huge mountain to climb as they lost 1-0 to Everton, and tensions were running high at full-time as Ronaldo stormed off the pitch. He was met with jeers from an ecstatic Everton crowd, and one young fan saw his phone get smashed by the forward.
Ronaldo has since apologised and offered to have the fan attend a United game, and the incident is still subject to an investigation. But Rangnick has spoken a week on from the altercation at Goodison Park.
Although a lot of questions were asked about the club’s Champions League hopes, Rangnick was also asked about Ronaldo.
In his pre-match press conference, Rangnick was asked if he spoke to Ronaldo about the incident. The German said: “No. I think he apologised in public on social media for what happened. As far as I know there is still an investigation ongoing, both from the police and the FA, but apart from that, I haven’t spoken about that with him.”
The United manager also confirmed that Ronaldo would be fit to play against Norwich after nursing an injury against Everton. But Ronaldo will be hoping to put that behind him and inspire a win at Old Trafford to get back to winning ways.
Rangnick added: “It should be unthinkable, but we all know in football things like that can happen. This is what makes this ball game so interesting. You never know what the outcome might be.
“But as I said, I am pretty positive that we will show a reaction tomorrow. This has to happen, we have to show that we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our supporters, we owe that to the whole club.
“It is definitely a test of character but we have to be aware that if we invest enough energy into that game with regard to total distance, sprints, fast runs… if we are tactically prepared for that game, which we will do, we always do that, we will give them the best possible game plan. we will try to with regard to formation and line-up to start with the best possible team.
“We will try to with regard to formation and line-up to start with the best possible team. Then it’s up to the players to show on the pitch that they are still ambitious, and they want to finish the season on the highest and best possible note.”
