Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United suffered a dreadful defeat from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Former Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland and England International Phil Foden scored a hat-trick to help the Citizens conquer the Red Devils.
Anthony Martial came as a substitute in the match, and he netted twice in the dying minutes. So the score became a little respect for the visitors. But the fans wanted their favourite player, Cristiano Ronaldo on the ground.
Erik ten Hag subbed in Fred, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Victor Lindelof and Casemiro, but Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench for the whole time. The five-time UEFA Champions League winner has got only two starts under the new head coach.
Manchester City was running absolute riots in the first half of the match. They thrashed Manchester United 4-0 in the starting 45 minutes of the match.
What does Erik ten Hag have to say about Cristiano Ronaldo?
The former Ajax manager was asked about why he didn’t introduce former Real Madrid Striker Cristiano Ronaldo. To which Erik ten Hag said that he didn’t want to disrespect the Star attacker.
“I didn’t bring him on out of respect for his big career. And the other thing, there was then the advantage I could bring Antony Martial on. He needs the minutes but I don’t want to point it out like that,” the Dutchman said at his post-match press conference.
Erik ten Hag admitted that his squad lacked the winning belief in the match. On the other side, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said that some of his players are required to improve.
After the post-match press conference, the Dutch coach was criticised after talking about Cristiano Ronaldo and not bringing him.
Roy Keane said “Bringing Ronaldo on at 4-0 and 6-1 would have been an insult. Ten Hag may not have delivered the line correctly and probably would have been best not saying it, but I like his honesty.”
