Cristiano Ronaldo was an unused substitute in Manchester United’s 6-3 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City, as Anthony Martial came on ahead of him.
Erik ten Hag refused to play Cristiano Ronaldo in the Manchester derby because he “respects his big career.”
Ronaldo was an unused substitute in United’s 6-3 thrashing of City, as Anthony Martial came on ahead of him and scored twice in his first appearance since August 22.
Martial’s goals were his first for United in exactly a year, and he is expected to start their next Premier League game against Everton on Sunday. Ten Hag used all five of his substitutions, but Ronaldo remained on the bench.
“I wouldn’t bring him in because I respect Cristiano and his big career,” Ten Hag explained. “The other advantage I could bring Anthony Martial, he needs the minutes but I don’t want to point that out.”
United was defeated 6-3 for the sixth time in their history, and the first time since a thrashing at Southampton in October 1996.
Erik Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo crack jokes before training and other moments at Manchester United’s first team training session. Prior to the humbling at City, Ten Hag had presided over four consecutive Premier League wins.
Ten Hag, who told the players what he told the press, accused the United players of being “undisciplined at following rules.”
“I also informed the players,” he emphasized. “Lack of faith. “I saw some highlights, and it was clear that we were not defending on the front foot, that we let them play, that in possession we were not brave enough, that we made tactical mistakes, that we made a decision: mistakes, and then we got hammered.”
“They must (accept criticism). They demonstrated against Liverpool and Arsenal that when they perform as a team when they bring belief to the field when they start as individuals, we will show them and you cannot deny it.
“In the last five games, we’ve brought that attitude to the field, a strong belief, persuasion, and we’ve caused problems for our opponents. It was the other way around today.”
” It’s normal in our process for that pattern to rise, and I think I see it clearly rise, and we have setbacks during that process, and we have to learn from it while pointing it out.” “We can walk away from it, but if we do, we will not find a solution. So we will do it, we will be very clear, and we must move on to the next game.”
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