Cristiano Ronaldo was surprisingly left on the bench for your complete 90 minutes yesterday as Manchester United had been thrashed 6-3 by rivals Manchester Metropolis on the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s aspect had been in excellent type as they comfortably received the primary Manchester Derby of the season, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each every bagging a hat-trick in a memorable victory.
It wasn’t an ideal day for Ronaldo, nevertheless, as Erik ten Hag left him on the bench and by no means introduced him on, with Fabrizio Romano questioning this resolution in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
Romano feels that the veteran Portugal worldwide nonetheless has one thing to supply in an enormous sport like this, however he additionally insisted that there isn’t a change on the subject of the participant’s switch state of affairs.
Ronaldo’s future appeared in critical doubt for a lot of the summer time as he missed a big chunk of Man Utd’s pre-season, however Romano says it’s too early to say what his agent Jorge Mendes will look to do for his consumer in January.
“There’s no replace but on Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s too early,” Romano defined. “In November / December, throughout the World Cup, it will likely be simpler to grasp Cristiano’s place with Mendes – as of now, nothing has modified.
“To be trustworthy, I’d at all times play Cristiano in high video games just like the Manchester Derby, however it’s additionally honest to keep in mind that he didn’t do the complete pre-season.”
Ronaldo could also be approaching 38 years of age, however he nonetheless had an excellent season for United final time period, netting 24 objectives in all competitions for a struggling aspect, so one imagines some followers will probably be questioning Ten Hag for not calling upon him even as an alternative towards Metropolis yesterday.
Whereas there’s little doubt Ronaldo is previous his peak now, he’s nonetheless one of many best of all time, and it’s unhappy to see his Premier League profession tapering off on this method.
