29 October 2023 , 07:00
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Erik ten Hag' wasted no time making his presence felt after taking over at Manchester United, but his treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo before and after his first Manchester Derby represented one of the Dutchman's biggest early statements.
Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021 and top-scored in his first season back at the club with whom he won his first Ballon d'Or. The Portuguese international was sidelined by Ten Hag, though, and started just one of United's first six Premier League matches under the former Ajax boss.
Game seven saw United travel to the Etihad Stadium for Ten Hag's first taste of the Manchester Derby experience, with Ronaldo an unused sub in the 6-3 defeat. Marcus Rashford started through the middle with Anthony Martial was preferred to Ronaldo when the manager turned to his bench, and Ten Hag delivered a curious answer when the obvious questions about his absent star arrived after the game.
"I didn't bring him on out of respect for his big career," Ten Hag told reporters after the game. To the manager's credit, Martial did score twice on his return from injury, but City's 4-0 half-time lead meant the game was out of sight long before the Frenchman's introduction
"And the other thing, there was then the advantage I could bring Antony Martial on," Ten Hag added. "He needs the minutes but I don't want to point it out like that."
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Ten Hag's decision about Ronaldo - and his explanation - didn't win over everyone. Indeed, the forward's one-time team-mate Roy Keane was left dissatisfied by the supposed logic.
"The manager kept him. Okay, he said he wanted options. But you don't keep Ronaldo to sit on the bench," Keane said on Sky Sports.
"The big picture is that Ten Hag is not going to play Ronaldo. It is just going to get uglier as the season goes on. United have shown nothing but disrespect to Ronaldo."
Did Manchester United treat Cristiano Ronaldo unfairly? Have your say in the comments section
Erik ten Hag addressed his use of Cristiano Ronaldo after a 6-3 derby defeat (PA)That was far from the final time the word 'respect' came up in discussions of Ronaldo's future. Ten Hag handed Ronaldo a few more starts in the league, while continuing to use him regularly in the Europa League, but the forward was by no means an automatic pick and caused controversy when he appeared to refuse to come off the bench against Tottenham.
Ten Hag wasn't letting himself get influenced by criticism of how he used Ronaldo. And not long after that City game, it became clear who held the power.
By the time the World Cup break rolled around, United sat fifth in the league, with Ronaldo contributing just one of their 20 goals. Before the return to action in December, he was gone, his contract terminated by mutual agreement.
"I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me," Ronaldo said of Ten Hag in an interview with Piers Morgan which aired in November 2022. "If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you"
Ronaldo left Manchester United just a few weeks after the derby defeat (AFP via Getty Images)Ronaldo also addressed the City game in particular when speaking to Morgan. He said he did not object to Ten Hag having differences of opinion, but hit out at the manager's perceived excuses for decisions in the derby.
"Okay, you don't put me against Manchester City because of respect of your career and you want to put me three minutes against Tottenham. It doesn’t make sense…" he added.
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"I think he did it on purpose because, for example, in a national team the other clubs, if the coach wants to put me [on for] five minutes, if someone [is] injured or if they really need me, I will help. But in that way I felt provoked not only because of that game, but before.”
After Ronaldo left for Al-Nassr midway through the season, Ten Hag's team shook off the loss of their leading man from the previous season. They finished third in the Premier League, securing Champions League qualification, and ended a six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.
Ronaldo hasn't been the last player to suffer from the ruthlessness of United's manager, either. Jadon Sancho finds himself sidelined after a falling-out with Ten Hag early this season, while David de Gea was among those to leave over the summer after more than a decade at Old Trafford.
United go into their latest Manchester Derby in worrying shape, but back-to-back victories over Brentford and Sheffield United have helped them recover from a shaky start. A meeting with City, who haven't been unstoppable themselves, ought to provide a real test of how far they have come since last season's loss.