Ten Hag vs Garnacho: Was Man Utd star axed for liking Ronaldo criticism?

Tom Weber

• Updated: 14 Sept 2024 16:02 BST
• 3 min read

Alejandro Garnacho was again caught liking a social media post critical of Erik ten Hag and he did not start in Manchester United's 3-0 win over Southampton.

Red Devils legend Cristiano Ronaldo once again took aim at Ten Hag earlier this week. The two, of course, had a famous falling out in 2022 that ultimately led to the Portuguese's departure for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

“Man United's coach cannot say they can’t compete to win the Premier League and the Champions League every year. This is Man Utd,” Ronaldo said while talking to Rio Ferdinand this week.

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Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano shared CR7's quotes and Garnacho was seen liking them on Instagram. Back in April, the Argentine already made headlines with his social media activity that was clearly critical of his coach.

At the time, Ten Hag insisted that the matter had been dealt with internally. So far, no official response has been offered on the latest incident, but the youngster was conspicuously absent from Man Utd's starting line-up against Southampton.

Was Garnacho dropped for liking Ronaldo's criticism?

Man Utd ultimately strolled to a 3-0 victory over the promoted side despite a very unimpressive start to the game. Garnacho eventually came on as a substitute and hammered the final nail in the Saints' coffin.

But was he dropped for liking Ronaldo's criticism of Ten Hag? According to Romano, this was not the case. The transfer expert has revealed that Man Utd sources insist that it was merely a 'technical decision' by the Dutchman to omit Garnacho.

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Like new signing Manuel Ugarte, who made his long-awaited debut off the bench, Garnacho was in South America over the week on international duty.

Though he barely played, racking up 11 minutes versus Chile before spending the entire match against Colombia on the bench, the Argentine was likely rested by Ten Hag after his long travels across the Atlantic.

It seems that the matter has once again been dealt with internally.