Erik ten Hag has been warned leaving Cristiano Ronaldo out of his Manchester United side is a foolish move if he wants to get off to a winning start.
The Dutchman looks set to bench Ronaldo for United's Premier League opener against Brighton on Sunday with the striker having played just 45 minutes of friendly action during pre-season. Ronaldo was late joining up with the rest of the squad due to family reasons while his future at the club has remained shrouded in speculation, but was pictured training on his own whilst back in his native Portugal.
Ronaldo has already made it clear he wants to leave the club before the transfer window shuts and Ten Hag now appears prepared to go with the other options at his disposal until the 37-year-old can get up to speed. But former United No.2 Chris Armas is adamant Ronaldo should be restored to the starting XI sooner, rather than later.
Armas coached Ronaldo as part of Ralf Rangnick's interim backroom team last season and suggested it is Ten Hag's job to fit his system round Ronaldo, not the other way round.
"It's a hands-on approach, speaking with him, bringing him into the office, asking him questions, so he's part of the solutions and part of the success," Armas told Sky Sports. "It was my job to work out how to get all that fire, experience and talent and challenge him as much as I could. I think the most important thing is to engage with Cristiano."
United have done fairly well without Ronaldo during pre-season, as the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford got back amongst the goals, while Jadon Sancho began to display some promising form. It is that trio who are expected to start the clash vs Brighton, but Armas insists Ronaldo offers invaluable assets to the attack.
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"He's got so much to give, his commitment to winning and scoring, each guy has their different type of leadership. He can be a leader in his way, and my goal like everyone in the squad was to say how can I get the most out of Cristiano.
"When you talk about, at the highest level, seeing a professional and what winning means to Ronaldo, what scoring goals mean to him - he's on the team, a big part of the team and he's a guy who produced."
Ronaldo has faced further criticism following his Old Trafford walk out before Sunday's 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano had finished. The 37-year-old played the first half friendly but was spotted leaving the stadium early.
Boss Ten Hag has already had his say on the situation after speaking with Dutch outlet Viaplay Sport Nederland. The interviewer asked Ten Hag: "At the beginning of the conversation, we talked about howimportant it is for you to have players arrive on time and your attention to details. But Cristiano seems to arrive and leave whenever he wants, how do you manage that?"
Ten Hag replied: "He was allowed to leave because of private reasons with his family, so what you are saying is absolutely not true." To which the interviewer responded: "But against Rayo, he left the game during the break."
Ten Hag replied: "There were many more players who left." The interviewer asked: "So you think that's OK? Let it pass?"
Ten Hag said: "Definitely not." The interview then asked: "So, how do you handle that?"
"I certainly don't condone this," Ten Hag stressed. "This is unacceptable. For everyone. We are a team and you have to stay until the end."
