Ronaldo blasts English referees Friday, December 15, 2006
Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo believes Premiership referees should hand out harsher punishments to defenders for fouling flair players.
The Portugese winger believes referees in England are too lenient towards tough-tackling defenders and should 'protect' attacking players more.
"If it's a free-kick, the referee should give a free-kick. But here referees choose to ignore fouls a lot of the time," says Ronaldo in the new Opus book.
"I think the referees here favour the defenders quite a bit because they get to tackle a lot without getting a yellow card.
"It's difficult for a defender in England to get sent off by collecting two yellow cards - it's very rare it happens.
"I think the referees should protect the attackers more. Not only me, not only wingers, but strikers as well.
"If it's a dirty tackle or harsh tackle, the ref should give a yellow card right away without warning. But they don't. Defenders are often told 'Next time it's a booking'."
Ronaldo says there's a more physical 'mentality' in English football, meaning that there are few English flair players.
"In Portugal, football is quite different. People want to play football but here it's more physical," he says.
"People can tackle you hard if you try to play football. There are some English players who are very technical - but you don't have many.
"The football is different here, with a different mentality. And it's not just the players who have grown up with it but the referees too."
