Rangnick explains why Ronaldo was subbed against Brentford
Martin Macdonald
- 21 Jan 2022 09:54 CST
- 3 min read
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has attempted to play down the attention put on Cristiano Ronaldo following the player's angry reaction at being substituted against Brentford.
After a goalless first half in London, Man Utd scored two in less than 10 minutes in the second period, with Anthony Elanga cleverly outwitting the opposition goalkeeper before Bruno Fernandes unselfishly squared for Mason Greenwood to tap home.
Only a few days previous, the Red Devils surrendered a 2-0 lead against Aston Villa to eventually draw 2-2.
This prompted Rangnick to make a defensive change against Brentford, and he opted to take off Ronaldo in the 71st minute.
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The former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar was enraged at the decision and walked off the pitch in frustration before throwing a training jacket to the ground.
Man Utd subsequently went on to win 3-1, with Marcus Rashford scoring six minutes after Ronaldo was taken off, while Ivan Toney scored a late consolation for the Bees.
Shortly after Rashford scored, Rangnick could be seen approaching Ronaldo, apparently explaining his decision.
Ronaldo faced criticism for his reaction from pundits and on social media afterwards.
What did Rangnick say?
Rangnick has revealed that the dropped points against Aston Villa were certainly in his thoughts when he decided to take Ronaldo off.
"Well, I think we shouldn't make too much of a fuss out of it. I can only speak for myself and my coaching staff," the German said at a press conference on Friday.
"I explained that to him during the game, we had a little conversation after we score the third goal. In fact, I told him the same as what I said in our press conference.
"The job of a football manager is to help the team win the game and it was clear from our experience at Villa Park that this time we have to do things better. We did it better and the only question was, who do we take off?
"Of course, Cristiano is a prolific goalscorer and he's a player that will always want to play and score goals. He was also asking why me 'why didn't you take off one of the younger players?'. The answer came five minutes later when one of the younger players scored the third goal.
"Maybe Cristiano could have also scored the third goal but football is not about maybe, it is about taking a decision in the right moment."
Man Utd face West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
