Cristiano Ronaldo feels he is not given enough protection from referees and fears suffering a serious injury.
The United winger was denied a clear penalty against Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter final defeat at Old Trafford. That incident, coupled with persistent fouling throughout the game, has heightened a long-felt opinion that the Portuguese winger is not protected by referees.
"It's very frustrating, the referee today was unbelievable," he told MUTV. "He didn't want to give the penalty, he didn't want to give yellow cards - sometimes I'm very disappointed.
"The refs don't protect the skilful players. I think about the Arsenal player (Eduardo) and I'm scared sometimes to do skills because some players do unbelievable fouls and the ref protects the defender, not the skilled player! It's very disappointing and I'm thinking a lot about changing my game because this is happening. When referees don't give penalties and don't give yellow cards or reds, it's difficult to play like that."
Sir Alex Ferguson was aghast that referee Martin Atkinson did not award a penalty for Sylvain Distin's bodycheck on Ronaldo in the seventh minute, as was Ronaldo.
"He (Distin) didn't try to take the ball," added Ronny. "He came straight to me. It's difficult to play football when this happens. It's a joke."
And it wasn't just refereeing decisions that disappointed the 22-year-old. His frustration of losing a tie United dominated was clearly evident.
"We lost today, everyone is disappointed because we were the best team," he said. "We created ten chances while Portsmouth created just one. It's frustrating to lose like that.
"We controlled the game all the time in the first half and the second half. But we didn't score. When you score, you win the games but we didn't score. I think we played well, we created many chances, Carrick had one cleared off the line, Patrice hit the post... this happens in football. We had a great chance to win the FA Cup but we need to think now about the Premier League and the Champions League. These are the priorities."
The United winger was denied a clear penalty against Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter final defeat at Old Trafford. That incident, coupled with persistent fouling throughout the game, has heightened a long-felt opinion that the Portuguese winger is not protected by referees.
"It's very frustrating, the referee today was unbelievable," he told MUTV. "He didn't want to give the penalty, he didn't want to give yellow cards - sometimes I'm very disappointed.
"The refs don't protect the skilful players. I think about the Arsenal player (Eduardo) and I'm scared sometimes to do skills because some players do unbelievable fouls and the ref protects the defender, not the skilled player! It's very disappointing and I'm thinking a lot about changing my game because this is happening. When referees don't give penalties and don't give yellow cards or reds, it's difficult to play like that."
Sir Alex Ferguson was aghast that referee Martin Atkinson did not award a penalty for Sylvain Distin's bodycheck on Ronaldo in the seventh minute, as was Ronaldo.
"He (Distin) didn't try to take the ball," added Ronny. "He came straight to me. It's difficult to play football when this happens. It's a joke."
And it wasn't just refereeing decisions that disappointed the 22-year-old. His frustration of losing a tie United dominated was clearly evident.
"We lost today, everyone is disappointed because we were the best team," he said. "We created ten chances while Portsmouth created just one. It's frustrating to lose like that.
"We controlled the game all the time in the first half and the second half. But we didn't score. When you score, you win the games but we didn't score. I think we played well, we created many chances, Carrick had one cleared off the line, Patrice hit the post... this happens in football. We had a great chance to win the FA Cup but we need to think now about the Premier League and the Champions League. These are the priorities."
Cocky little ****.
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