Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been heavily criticised by pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor for dropping Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench for the weekend clash with Everton.
The Red Devils were not at their best as they only managed a 1-1 draw at home, and it’s not entirely clear why Solskjaer didn’t put out his strongest possible XI for this game.
The Norwegian tactician will surely feel he has to rest Ronaldo, who turns 37 later this season, from time to time, but Agbonlahor isn’t buying that as an excuse when the international break is coming up.
See below for the former Aston Villa striker’s take on Solskjaer’s decision on talkSPORT…
“It was a sackable offence to not start Ronaldo. Ole got it totally wrong.
“He’s laughing on the touch line. It shows he’s happy with a draw.”
“#MUFC should not be happy with a draw at home to Everton.”
Gabby Agbonlahor slams Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for United’s draw yesterday pic.twitter.com/GaCLG3llL1
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 3, 2021
United fans will surely agree that Ronaldo is too important to be resting, though of course the club should also have enough confidence in their other attacking players.
Anthony Martial came in and scored, while Edinson Cavani is another fine option to have, so there is perhaps a case for saying that Solskjaer had some justification in trying something different against Everton, and people wouldn’t be focusing on Ronaldo if Solskjaer’s side had just defended a bit better on that Everton goal.