Ralf Rangnick believes people should not 'make too much of a fuss' about his decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in Manchester United's win at Brentford.
Ronaldo was replaced by Marcus Rashford in the 71st minute and could be seen demanding to know why he had been taken off with United 2-0 up.
Rashford made it 3-0 in the 77th minute with his first goal since October 30 and United eventually prevailed 3-1 for just their fifth league away win of the campaign.
After Rashford scored, Rangnick approached Ronaldo, sat in the gangway by the bench, and explained his thinking behind the change.
Ronaldo petulantly discarded a tracksuit top when Sir Alex Ferguson hooked him in the May 2009 derby at Old Trafford with United 2-0 up, having scored the opening goal. His reaction at Brentford was more restrained but the Portuguese was still in a demonstrative mood.
Even at training on Thursday, Ronaldo lowered his visor to avoid photographers, suggesting he was still riled by his withdrawal.
"I think we shouldn’t make too much of a fuss out of it," Rangnick said. "I can only speak for myself and my coaching staff. I explained that to him even during the game when we had that little conversation after the third goal and, in fact, I told him the same as what I just said in the press conference.
"The job of a football manager is to help teams win games and, for me, it was clear after the experience we had at Villa Park that this time we had to do things better.
"The only question was who we take off. Cristiano is a prolific goal scorer and a player who always wants to play and score goals. He was also asking ‘why me not one of the younger players?’
"The answer came five minutes later when one of the younger players scored the third goal. Maybe Cristiano could also have scored that goal but football is not always ‘maybe’, it’s about getting a decision in the right moment. Until then we were 2-0 up, Cristiano made an assist for the second goal when he chested the ball to Bruno, this was tactically one of the best situations we had in the game.
"He has not been substituted, I believe, for the first time in his career. There have been a few other substitutions as far as I know, even under Sir Alex.
"A player like Cristiano doesn’t like to be substituted, that is pretty normal. His reaction was emotional but for me this not a problem at all. I have managed other players, maybe with not as quite a big name as Cristiano but also players like Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Raul or Ebbe Sand. I know how these players react to being substituted.
"But then again it is about the team and getting points. We are in a position where every single game is of maximum importance. The team is more important than no matter who it is – Cristiano, Edinson, Bruno or any other player. Bruno has also been substituted and was not happy with that in the last couple of weeks. It’s about what is in best interests of the team."
