Erik ten Hag was asked a flurry of questions about Cristiano Ronaldo at this afternoon’s press conference.
Manchester United are preparing to travel to Cyprus where they will take on Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League, but the reporters at the briefing were focused on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal international was an unused substitute in the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, with Ten Hag insisting that he opted not to bring him on out of respect for his career.
“I don’t bring him out of respect, it has nothing to do with the future, January or next year,” Ten Hag told reporters.
🗣 "I don't bring him out of respect, it has nothing to do with the future, January or next year."
Erik ten Hag explains why Cristiano Ronaldo is being not used as an option off the bench pic.twitter.com/x0QgjbsH83
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 5, 2022
Footage courtesy of Football Daily
Whenever the cameras went on Ronaldo, he looked frustrated – as you would expect – and this was always going to dominate the headlines. Former United captain Roy Keane accused the club of disrespecting the 37-year-old, which is baffling to say the least, with the Ronaldo fan boy club coming out in force.
Later in the press conference, Ten Hag admitted his striker is “p*ssed off when he’s not playing” which is fair to say for any competitive footballer. It’s not a problem so long as he doesn’t become a negative influence in the dressing room.
Ten Hag added (via Manchester Evening News): “He’s not happy that he didn’t play Sunday, don’t get me wrong, but the question was about his mood in training, where he’s happy. Of course, he wants to play and he’s p*ssed off when he’s not playing.
“It’s always about, you live by the day, you line up the strongest team you had, but there are differences and no one is the same in the team. I treat everyone with respect, but they have all different backgrounds, so I have to treat players to get the best out of them.
“When you are here, when you are happy, satisfied on the bench, this is not the club you have to be. Cristiano is really competitive, he is not happy when he is not playing, but I have to repeat, maybe you didn’t hear, he is training well, he is in a good mood, he is motivated and he gives his best and that is what we expect.”
