• Featured

Carrick reveals the reason behind benching Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo
Getty Images
Advertisement

Ronaldo was not in the starting lineup for Manchester United in their 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

Caretaker manager Michael Carrick left out Cristiano Ronaldo from the Manchester United lineup on Sunday. 

Four minutes after the hour-mark, the Portuguese superstar replaced Jadon Sancho, who had scored Man United’s only goal. However, he was not able to clinch the match-winner for the Red Devils as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

After the game, Man United legend Garry Neville suggested Ralf Rangnick might be responsible for the decision. 

“A lot of people having a go at Michael Carrick for dropping Ronaldo and picking that MDF (midfield),” Neville posted on Twitter.

“I’ve a feeling the incoming manager has picked that team as it’s a huge departure from midweek and what they’ve been doing.”

Rangnick is reportedly close to taking over Man United as interim coach until the end of the season. 

However, Carrick dismissed Neville’s theory in a post-match interview.

“That’s not the case, no,” he said when asked whether Rangnick has decided the lineup (via Telegraph).

“We came here with a plan and I knew how Chelsea would play. We wanted to stop the short passes into Jorginho and [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, and we wanted to put some freshness into the team and tweak the tactics. It’s just how we decided to go and it nearly paid off.”

Manchester United hope to have Rangnick on their bench for their upcoming game against Arsenal on Thursday.

x