Ramos, on Cristiano: "Maybe it's not the best way to do things"
The Real Madrid captain spoke on Spanish radio about the Portuguese and his non-celebration of others' goals: "Maybe there are some who don't like it."
Sergio Ramos spoke to Spanish radio show El Larguero and discussed the current situation at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo’s lack of goals in LaLiga and the effect the Portuguese’s personality – and his non-celebration of his teammate’s goals when he is not scoring himself – has on the squad.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a specific problem exactly but the fact we’re not scoring doesn’t mean we should just drop someone,” the Real Madrid captain said of his side’s form in LaLiga. “The goals will come, that’s for sure, and I’ve always said it’s better to go through something like this at the start of the season than in April or May when it matters.”
The show’s host, Manu Carreño, then asked Ramos if there was anything wrong with Ronaldo.
“I don’t know, he seems fine to me,” he responded. “I mean he’s not used to not scoring…”
“I mean because of his gestures,” Carreño persisted. “He looks desperate, he didn’t celebrate Isco’s goal [against Las Palmas, for which Ronaldo provided the assist]… does that sort of thing annoy the rest of you?”
Ramos: "We're not going to change the way Cris is at this stage"
“Well, if we’re going to get into whether or not it’s something that’s annoying, I guess at the end of the day, it doesn’t help the interests of the team, right? All of the squad probably have their own opinion, maybe some are more affected by it than others, but we’re not going to change the way Cris is at this stage. He’s always been the same, so it doesn’t surprise me that even though we won 3-0 he had that look on his face because he didn’t score…
“But it’s surprising, right?” asked Carreño.
“After all these years for me no…” Ramos responded. “It’s that ambition that he’s always had that makes him go home with a little piss and vinegar if he hasn’t scored [laughs]. But we all still hold him in the same regard and we know how to handle the way he is because after all he does so much for us throughout the season.”
“But could it be seen as a lack of respect to his teammates? Has anyone ever pulled you aside and said ‘Sergio, mate, what’s the deal? When he scores I go over and give him a hug and all that…’” said Carreño.
"Personally I don't care if Cris scores, or Isco or Keylor"
“It could be that it’s not the best way to go about things, and yeah, maybe there are some who don’t like that type of gesture but speaking for me personally, to be honest I don’t care if Cris scores, or if Isco scores, or if Keylor or Kiko Casilla come up and score with a header. The satisfaction is the same for me as if I’d scored it myself” Ramos replied. “Obviously Cris has a different role, he’s playing for the Golden Boot, for the Ballon d’Or and a lot of individual titles that are influenced by the goals he scores and that sort of thing but I think that above all you can’t hold it against him because he gives the team so much that it’s difficult to get annoyed with him over this gesture or that…”