“Not as modern as I expected” - Schweinsteiger appears to echo Cristiano Ronaldo complaint about Manchester United
Bastian Schweinsteiger has echoed Cristiano Ronaldo's comments about the facilities at Manchester United. He admitted that it was not modern and needed to be rebuilt when he was at the club.
Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap's Stick to Football, Schweinsteiger claimed that the people at the club were fantastic and polite. He admitted that he liked the stadium too, but asserted that the training ground lacked facilities. He said:
"So, (the) people, amazing. How polite and everything. That was fantastic. The stadium? Walking on the pitch, nothing better than that. (But the) facilities? Actually a little bit like, not as modern as I expected, to be honest. I think they are rebuilding it."
Schweinsteiger played 35 matches for Manchester United before he was left out of the squad by Jose Mourinho. The manager sent him to train with the U16s as he was not interested in keeping the German in the first team dressing room.
When Cristiano Ronaldo took shots at Manchester United and the Glazers
Cristiano Ronaldo took shots at Manchester United and the Glazers in his explosive interview with Piers Morgan. He claimed that nothing had changed at the club since he left in 2009 and they had not upgraded anything at the training ground.
He said:
"Nothing changed, surprisingly. Not only the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym. Even the kitchen, the chefs, whom I appreciate – lovely people. They stopped in time. It surprised me a lot. I thought I would see other things; technologies and infrastructure. Unfortunately, we see a lot of what I used to see at 21, 22, and 23 years old. It really surprised me. Since (Sir Alex) Ferguson left, I haven't seen an evolution at the club. Progress is zero. You have to tear it down and rebuild it."
Ronaldo went on to take shots at the Glazers and claimed that the owners did not care about the club. He said:
"The owners of the club, listen, the Glazers, they don't care about the club - I mean professional sport. As you know Manchester (United) is a marketing club, they will get its money from the marketing. The sports, they don't really care in my opinion."
Cristiano Ronaldo had his contract terminated following the interview. He wanted to leave the club and the mutual termination worked for both as Erik ten Hag did not see the forward as a part of the starting XI.