Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has supposedly decided against burning bridges with Cristiano Ronaldo after he refused to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham last week. The Portuguese was banished from the first-team squad for the game against Chelsea but Ten Hag is waiting to hold crunch talks before deciding how best to proceed.
Ronaldo started on the bench for the 2-0 win over Spurs as Fred and Bruno Fernandes fired the Red Devils towards three points. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was then asked to come on shortly before the full-time whistle but refused to do so and stormed down the tunnel.
Naturally, that prompted a reaction from Ten Hag and Ronaldo was dropped from the matchday squad altogether against Chelsea on Saturday. Many United fans are wondering where the player-manager relationship goes from here as Casemiro popped up with a late header to rescue a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
According to The Athletic, Ten Hag remains adamant that he would prefer to have Ronaldo in his ranks for the remainder of the season despite their recent fall-out.
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Crunch talks are due to take place on Tuesday with United players given two days off following a hectic fixture schedule. Ronaldo wasn’t at Stamford Bridge and he’s been forced to train away from the first team as a result of his act of defiance against Ten Hag.
While the manager is supposedly keen to keep the 37-year-old around, a key element of the talks is expected to focus on whether Ronaldo can handle a reduced role in the United squad. He was their top scorer with 24 goals in all competitions last season but many feel as though the team function better with the likes of Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial up top.
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Ronaldo reportedly asked to leave Old Trafford during the summer but a number of top European sides, including Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, distanced themselves from a move. If the former Real Madrid star rejects Ten Hag’s offer of a reduced squad role, he could be frozen out on a longer-term basis with a January transfer exit still on the cards.
Two of the Portuguese’s former Red Devils team-mates, Roy Keane and Gary Neville, went head to head on his actions over the weekend with Keane questioning Ten Hag’s decision to try and bring him on so late in the game against Spurs.
“He went to Man United, to a bad Manchester United team, really bad, and he was still the leading goalscorer,” he told Sky Sports. “The last few weeks, he’s been frustrated. The Man City game, the Everton game when he came on as sub and scored, he came off against Newcastle, then [Ten Hag] wants to bring him on for a few minutes.
“I think they asked the manager in the press conference, did Ronaldo refuse to go on? But they should’ve asked him, when were you going to put him on? Late in the game, two or three minutes to go? Not too sure it’s a clever move.”
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