Gary Neville raised eyebrows on Monday Night Football (MNF) after comparing Wout Weghorst and Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.
Neville’s MNF colleague Jamie Carragher refused to let Neville off the hook and asked several times which of the two forwards he would pick for Man Utd if he was in Erik ten Hag’s shoes.
Ronaldo left Old Trafford under a cloud in November following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan in which the five-time Ballon d’Or winner publicly aired his many grievances.
In need of a new centre-forward, Ten Hag brought in fellow Dutchman Weghorst from Burnley in January after United agreed a €3 million loan fee.
While the Netherlands international had endeared himself to some United supporters thanks to his impressive work ethic, the 6ft 6in striker’s goalscoring record leaves a lot to be desired.
In his first 19 appearances for the Red Devils, Weghorst had managed to score just two goals. He’s still looking to score his first Premier League goal for the club and we’re now in April.
Neville compares Weghorst and Ronaldo
Despite that, Ten Hag continues to pick Weghorst – and Neville brought up some stats on MNF trying to explain why.
“Since Sunday that seems to have been a moment with Manchester United fans, Weghorst has played nearly every game since he came to the club,” Neville said.
“I called him a placeholder in terms of what he’s doing because United didn’t invest in a proper centre-forward that Erik ten Hag needed in January because they didn’t have the money.
“A lot of people have said in the past 24 hours: ‘This experiment has to stop, Weghorst has to come out the team, it can no longer go on’.
“But we’ve looked at the stats – and this going to be quite provocative – and the reason Weghorst continues to play and why Ronaldo is no longer at the club… we’ve just looked at Weghorst’s 19 starts for the club versus Ronaldo’s last 19 starts.
“Weghorst has 12 wins, four draws, three defeats, he has only scored two goals but the team has scored 37 goals. With Ronaldo it was 19 starts, they won three less games, drawn three, lost four more with him in the team. He scored 11 but the team itself only scored 23 – they are massive differences.
‘It is the strangeness of football that you can have a player who quite clearly isn’t good enough to be a Manchester United centre-forward but has brought more profit to the team.”
When Carragher reminded Neville that he called Ronaldo the greatest player of all time 12 months ago, the former Man Utd captain added: “I think ultimately the reason Ten Hag left Ronaldo out was because of the stats. Weghorst isn’t fit to lace Ronaldo’s boots but those are stark stats playing in same period with same teammates, he was really poor on Sunday, he shouldn’t be there, but the reason he is there is because of those stats.”
Carragher asks Neville: ‘Would you pick Weghorst or Ronaldo?’
Carragher then asked Neville multiple times: “Who would you pick?”
Neville, trying his best to avoid the question, said: “I don’t think either of them at this moment in time should play for Man United. It is more important who Ten Hag picks.
“I don’t know (who I would pick Ronaldo or Weghorst). Ronaldo is now playing in Saudi Arabia, he left, that was a provocative chart. I put the chart up because of why Ten Hag continues to pick him.
“I don’t know who I’d pick. You would move it game to game. If I was playing at Old Trafford I’d pick Ronaldo, if I was playing away from home I’d probably pick Weghorst.”
Watch the video here:
Carragher’s face at the end of the segment was an absolute picture:
