Had to take decision in interest of team and Manchester United, proclaims Ralf Rangnick
Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he made the decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo because he needed the team to control the game and shore up their defensive line. The Red Devils beat Brentford 3-1 after a much-improved second-half performance to boost their top-four hopes.
With Brentford once again putting up a tough first-half fight, many were shocked at the fact that the Red Devils went into the second half with the scores still level. That was because Brentford had three of the best chances of the game but Manchester United turned things around in the second half. Goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Elanga and Mason Greenwood ensured that despite Ivan Toney’s late consolation, the away side walked away victorious.
However, the story of the game was Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to being substituted with the Portuguese forward clearly unhappy at Ralf Rangnick’s decision. The German explained the substitution and revealed that he had to shore up the team’s defences especially after the draw against Aston Villa last time around. Rangnick also added that the fact Ronaldo was playing his first game on his comeback from an injury also played into the decision.
"The only reaction I got was, 'why me? Why did you take me off?' I had to take the decision in the interest of the team and the club. We did the same thing when 2-0 up at Villa and didn't want to make the same mistake again. I understand Cristiano is ambitious but maybe when he is a manager in the future, he will make the same decision after 75 minutes,” Rangnick said, reported Sky Sports.
"I didn't expect him to hug me after being substituted. I know how goalscoring players think and I had to make this decision. I have no issues with Cristiano. He was coming back from injury and hadn't played for one-and-a-half weeks.
“We had the likes of Rashford and Anthony Martial on the bench so why not use it? I would make the same decision again. I've been here now for six weeks and I've never had an issue with Cristiano. We had a discussion before the Villa cup game about his injury and we agreed not to use him. He was available again today and we decided to play him from the start. The most important thing is that we win games and this comes first."
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