'He needs to go' - Fans react to Rangnick dropping Ronaldo against Burnley

FT Desk

• 8 Feb 2022 20:22 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick left himself open to criticism on Tuesday night when he announced his starting XI to face Burnley in the Premier League without Cristiano Ronaldo anywhere to be seen.

Instead, the Portugal international found himself on the bench in place of Edinson Cavani and Rangnick seemed more than happy to explain himself prior to the game.

"We’ve played Burnley a couple of weeks ago and seen quite a few games here at Turf Moor, we knew in the early stages it will require a lot of running, chasing balls, a lot of fighting for second balls, so I decided to start with Edi [Cavani] because this kind of profile suits him," said the Man Utd manager to MUTV.

He was then asked by BT Sport about his decision and the German coach added: “I’m not worried about Cristiano [Ronaldo] not being able to score enough goals.

“We’ve got a couple of games coming up in the next couple of weeks and we will also need Cristiano.”

Indeed, Rangnick certainly may have a point when it comes to his team’s tactics and Ronaldo’s uses on the night. Prior to the game, the Portugal striker hadn’t scored a league goal since the previous clash with Burnley on December 30.

However, despite Rangnick’s assurances, pundits and Man Utd fans were quick to make their opinions heard on the matter.

Reaction to Rangnick dropping Ronaldo

Perhaps the most notable critique of Rangnick’s decision to drop Ronaldo came from BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage, who said: "I’d play Ronaldo everytime, I know he played 120 minutes but physically he’s fantastic, will work hard, top goalscorer and if you need a goal perhaps he’ll come off the bench but I’d start Ronaldo."