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Manchester United: Erik ten Hag slammed for derby quotes on Cristiano Ronaldo

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Journalist Adam Crafton has slammed Erik ten Hag for his explanation as to why Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t play for Manchester United at the weekend.

The Red Devils suffered humiliation in the Premier League in their most recent outing as they were thumped 6-3 away from home in the Manchester derby.

Indeed, despite a late double from Anthony Martial – following an earlier strike from Antony – they were thoroughly outclassed by Manchester City, who strolled to victory thanks to hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.

Ronaldo was left on the Man United bench for the whole game, and when asked why he wasn’t used, Ten Hag said (via Sky Sports): “I didn’t bring him on out of respect for his big career.”

Upon hearing that claim, Crafton took to Twitter to express his feelings on the situation, saying: “This is a shambles.”

Will Cristiano Ronaldo still be at Man United by the end of January?

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TIF Thoughts on Erik ten Hag and Manchester United…

Ronaldo has started just once in the Premier League this term and is yet to score, so Ten Hag clearly doesn’t have that much faith in the 37-year-old.

Even so, with his team shipping six goals over the weekend, it would have made a certain amount of sense to bring on a player who has scored hundreds of goals over the span of his career to help inspire a possible comeback.

In the end, though, Ronaldo was left on the bench. It may have perhaps been embarrassing for a five-time Ballon d’Or winner to be involved in such a heavy defeat, but Ten Hag’s quotes are still a little baffling.

Anyway, The Telegraph is now reporting that the forward will be allowed to leave in the winter if the right bid comes in, which suggests that the Man United boss just isn’t that keen on Ronaldo, regardless of his ‘big career’.

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