Have Man Utd shown Ronaldo disrespect?
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 3 Oct 2022 08:58 BST
- 3 min read
Roy Keane has criticized Erik ten Hag’s decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench in their 6-3 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Ronaldo didn’t start the game and didn’t come on at any point, with Ten Hag later saying it was out of respect to his big career that he didn’t want to put him on in a losing position.
This has been criticized by various sections of the fans and media, who believe Ronaldo could’ve contributed more to United from a losing position and that he should’ve been brought on.
Roy Keane said the same, and believe United should’ve sold Ronaldo in the summer transfer window when they had the chance to let him go.
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Keane believes Ronaldo should've played
“I think Manchester United have shown disrespect to Ronaldo. I think he should’ve been let go in the transfer window. I think the manager said he’s holding on to him because he needed options.
“You don’t hold on to Ronaldo to sit on the bench. He’s one of the greatest players ever. He had options, he had four or five options. Okay, today, the manager brought on Martial and he scored two. That’s justified,” Keane said.
He later added, saying the situation would get uglier if Ronaldo kept being benched: “But generally speaking, the bigger picture, he’s not going to play Ronaldo. He’s played in one or two European games, and it’s just going to get uglier as the season goes on.
“Ronaldo’s motivated because the World Cup is coming around, but if he’s sitting on the bench week in, week out, it’s just not good. I think United have shown nothing but disrespect to Ronaldo.”
Did Erik ten Hag disrespect Cristiano Ronaldo by leaving him on the bench for the derby?#MUFC
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) October 3, 2022
Keane then said that Ronaldo would’ve been a viable goal threat had he been brought on and there’s too much focus on the pressing side of the game when it comes to the Portuguese star.
“They should’ve let him go when the opportunity came in. And as I said, they did have options to let him go – I know that for a fact – and holding on to him to sit on the bench, I think that’s ridiculous for a player of that stature.
“Could he have brought him on? Of course! Look at his goals record, he has as good a chance as anyone else of putting the ball in the net. People are obsessed with the pressing side of the game but if you put him in the right areas, he’ll score goals.”
Ronaldo has started just one league game for Manchester United this season: the 4-0 defeat at Brentford, while he has started both of the club’s Europa League group stage matches so far.
