Erik ten Hag discussed his tough stance against Cristiano Ronaldo after confirming that the Portugese refused to come on as a substitute in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
In storming down the tunnel and leaving Old Trafford before the full-time whistle, Cristiano Ronaldo turned the attention away from what was perhaps Manchester United’s best performance under Ten Hag to date.
The manager promised to deal with him later has since then withdrawn Ronaldo from the Chelsea game this Saturday. The Athletic also reported that he has been made to ‘train alone’ and according to Samuel Luckhurst, he trained with the Under 21s.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Carrington at 8:30am this morning and is due to train with #mufc's under-21s [@samuelluckhurst]
— utdreport (@utdreport) October 21, 2022
In his pre-match press conference, Ten Hag provided more context for the decision to punish Ronaldo, citing an incident earlier where the former Real Madrid star was warned after he left at half-time during a pre-season friendly vs Rayo Vallecano. He said (via Dail Mail):
‘I am the manager, I am responsible for top spot culture here and I have to set standards and values and I have to control them.’.
‘In the team, we have values and standards and I have to control that. After Vallecano, I told him it was unacceptable but not him everyone, this is the second time, there are consequences.
‘We miss him tomorrow, it’s a miss for the squad but it’s important for the attitude and mentality of the group and now we have to focus on Chelsea as that is important.’
‘I think it will have a (time for) reflection for him, but also for everyone else, I sent a warning at the start of the season, next time there have to be consequences otherwise when you are living together when you are playing together, football is a team sport and you have to fulfil certain standards. And I have to control it.’
Ronaldo wanted to leave the club in the summer but was unable to do so. He does not seem to be part of Erik ten Hag’s plans with the Dutch preferring players like Rashford and Anthony Martial to lead the line over him. He has only made 12 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring two goals.
United are currently fifth in the Premier League table, and a win on Saturday would take them into the top four.