Jamie Carragher has rubbished claims that Erik ten Hag made a mistake by not sending on Cristiano Ronaldo during the Manchester derby.
Superstar striker Ronaldo watched on from the substitutes' bench as Manchester United suffered a heavy 6-3 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday afternoon. Ten Hag used his full allocation of five substitutes throughout the match but only brought on one attacker, Anthony Martial, who scored a second-half double.
The Red Devils manager later explained that he chose to leave Ronaldo on the bench "out of respect for his big career", suggesting it would have been below the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to feature on such a humiliating day for United. Nonetheless, many fans and pundits were baffled by the decision not to unleash the Portuguese against City as the visitors chased the game at the Etihad.
Carragher was not surprised, however, and pointed to United's embarrassing loss at Brentford in August, as well as Marcus Rashford's electric pace, to justify Ten Hag's decision. The pundit wrote on Twitter : "The idea that ETH [Ten Hag] got it wrong yesterday by not playing Ronaldo is laughable!
"Ronaldo played at Brentford when it was 4-0 at ht [half-time]!! It's not a dig at CR [Ronaldo], but Rashford's pace on the counter attack as we saw v Arsenal / Liverpool was [100 per cent] the best option."
Former Real Madrid and Juventus forward Ronaldo made his only Premier League start of the season at Brentford, where United found themselves 4-0 down at the interval. The 37-year-old's place in Ten Hag's plans and overall suitability for a high-intensity brand of football remains a topic of intense debate, as shown by the heated exchange between Roy Keane and Micah Richards in the Sky Sports studio.
Did Erik ten Hag make the right decision by not utilising Cristiano Ronaldo? Have your say in the comments...
After former City defender Richards questioned Ronaldo's "style of play", Old Trafford legend Keane lamented how "pressing's the new buzzword in football". The Irishman added: "I don't care if a player's not pressing if he's going to get me 20, 25 goals!"
Despite United losing the game in the first half, Richards insisted Ten Hag's counter-attacking formula - in which Ronaldo does not appear to feature - was proven as effective in the victories over Arsenal and Liverpool, echoing Carragher's point. "He's [Ten Hag has] played people who are going to press high and with intensity," the Englishman said.
Richards could see where his fellow pundit was coming from his with emphasis on goals above pressing, and the row reached a somewhat-conciliatory conclusion. After Keane asked him who United's top goalscorer was last season, Richards replied "Ronaldo," to which the former Red Devils captain declared: "All right, brilliant."
