DBasia.news – The decision to reserve Cristiano Ronaldo during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Everton has made Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be criticized. But he had good reasons for doing so.
Solskjaer did drop an unexpected line-up in the match at Old Trafford, early last October. Needing a win, he instead installed a trio of Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, and Mason Greenwood on the front lines.
The surprising decision showed results as Martial had brought the Red Devils 1-0 up in the first half. Solskjaer’s plan seemed to be going well.
In the second half, Solskjaer quickly pulled off Martial and Cavani. He then entered Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho to score.
However, this decision created a bad result. Manchester United failed to add to their goal and instead conceded so that the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
After the match, Sir Alex Ferguson was caught on camera criticizing Solskjaer’s decision to reserve Ronaldo. The moment occurred when he spoke with former UFC wrestler, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Later, Paul Scholes also criticized Solskjaer’s decision. He considered now is not the right time to rest Ronaldo.
“We all want to see Cristiano because he is unique, he is different, he has a career and everyone wants to come and watch him. But the fact is he can’t play every game we play because of the physical nature of humans,” Solskjaer told the club’s official website.
“He (Sir Alex) knows how difficult this job is. He also doesn’t always play the same starters and takes some risks by resting Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney or David Beckham, the best players we have. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Solskjaer also confirmed his relationship with Ronaldo now. CR7 did appear annoyed when he left the field after a draw against Everton.
This immediately led to speculation that the superstar was getting irritated with Solskjaer’s leadership. This is also what reinforced the rumors of his dismissal.
“He’s not bothered at all. I know him from before and if you drop two points later like Cristiano feels then his expression is understandable,” he added.
“I spoke to him (Ronaldo) before the (Everton) game, then spoke to him again after the game and he was ready to come on when he was called up. Unfortunately when we don’t win Cristiano is unhappy and that’s the mindset you want from every player.”