Cristiano Ronaldo sensationally blamed for plight of Man Utd star Harry Maguire - 'Gained momentum'
Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire were team-mates at Man Utd
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Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher believes Cristiano Ronaldo is behind the plight of Manchester United defender Harry Maguire.
The 30-year-old has been widely mocked online after his own goal for England in their 3-1 victory over Scotland on Tuesday night.
Maguire has struggled at club level over the past two years and, earlier this summer, was stripped of the United captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag.
And Carragher, writing for the Telegraph, believes Ronaldo is behind the centre-back's drastic fall from grace.
Harry Maguire scored an own goal on Tuesday night as England beat Scotland at Hampden Park
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The Liverpool icon starts by saying Andre Onana, who joined the club earlier in the summer, shouted at Maguire in pre-season to endear himself to fans.
"One of the most distasteful incidents of all occurred during the friendly with Borussia Dortmund in July, when new signing Andre Onana started yelling at Maguire, in my view disgracefully playing to the gallery to endear himself to United fans," he said.
"I watched that in disbelief, but it said everything about what has gone wrong.
"Maguire was still the club captain then. He should have reacted furiously, put Onana in his box and demanded respect.
"Instead, he has the persona of someone whose confidence and authority is utterly broken."
And Carragher then proceeded to bring up Ronaldo's name, saying of the veteran: "It was a similar story when Cristiano Ronaldo returned and reports emerged about power struggles in the United dressing room.
"That is when the undermining of Maguire gained momentum."
Ronaldo never criticised Maguire in public during his second spell at United.
But the 38-year-old was, according to widespread reports, unhappy the former Leicester star was the club's captain.
When Ralf Rangnick ruled the roost it was also claimed Ronaldo had complained about Maguire's poor performances to the German.
He was put in his place, however, with Rangnick trying stamp his authority on the squad during his dismal stint in the dugout.
Carragher also thinks Maguire should have left United this summer, with West Ham interested.
A deal ultimately broke down, however.
Carragher added: "He missed the opportunity to start landing a few punches when he turned down West Ham in the summer.
"David Moyes would have had the perfect manager in an ideal team for Maguire’s attributes. I am sure he would have been a success there."
England boss Gareth Southgate slammed critics of Maguire after the victory over Scotland on Tuesday night.
Yet Maguire has shrugged off criticism and believes he can still be a key player for United this season.
"I know, at the moment, when I have not started a game in the first four games of the season, the story comes to me," he said.
"I want to play games, I want to play football.
"The first four weeks were hard because it was one game a week and the manager didn't select me but we have lots of games coming up now and I am sure I will play lots of games."
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Harry Maguire believes he can still be a key player for both England and Man Utd
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And he reacted to Southgate defending him by saying: "Gareth has been brilliant with me ever since I made my debut.
"He keeps saying, 'Keep playing well, keep doing a job for England and keep helping us progress’. You see this team is progressing.
"Of course you want to play week-in, week-out and when you get that rhythm, it helps.
"But honestly, I feel good. He played me at the World Cup and I thought I had a fantastic World Cup having played not so many games.
"I finished off last season with two very strong performances for England and I have played in all five matches to help put us where we are in qualifying but I have got to keep performing when I get chosen."