Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Man United caretaker, Michael Carrick for the side’s huge Premier League clash at Chelsea
Ronaldo started and scored in the midweek European win over Villarreal but was consigned to the bench at Stamford Bridge. Instead, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford started ahead of Bruno Fernandes in attack.
Carrick reverted to what appeared to be a midfield diamond with Fernandes at the tip, Nemanja Matic at the base and Fred and Scot McTominay in the middle. United were without Harry Maguire after he was sent off in last week’s disastrous defeat by Watford that catalyzed Solskjaer’s dismissal.
The plan to leave out Ronaldo in such a big match left many “surprised” including former United captain Roy Keane who said, “Ronaldo’s one of the great players. Carrick has a plan. Ronaldo’s come back to United to play these games”.
“He’s a big player for the big occasions. His stats against Chelsea aren’t great but I’m surprised with the decision to leave him out”.
United supporters were also perplexed by the decision to start Ronaldo on the bench given the importance of the clash against the Premier League leaders going into the weekend.
A United fan tweeted, “Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench? Ok. Enough jokes. Drop the real line-up now!”
Another added, “Ronaldo is not starting, Carrick is finished before he even started”.
One shocked supported also posted, “Can’t believe he dropped Ronaldo” while another wrote, “No Ronaldo in the starting XI. I swear to God if we lose, lets just now make this evening more sad”.
Speaking about the team selection, Carrick said, “a few tweaks and changes from the other night, to change things up a bit”.
“Cristiano is probably our standout name. But it’s just game plan, ideas. I had a good chat with Cristiano actually. He was great and we’ve decided to go like that today”.
The match against Chelsea marked the second time Ronaldo has not started in the Premier League this season. He was left on the bench for United’s 1-1 draw with Everton at home and only came on for the final 33 minutes.
On that afternoon, Ronaldo was very furious with Solskjaer. He stormed down the tunnel shaking his head after the Red Devils dropped two points.