Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo during a match against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain on October 16. DAVID KLEIN/Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute in Manchester United’s 2-0 Premier League win over Tottenham, United manager Erik ten Hag said on Friday.
Ronaldo headed to the dressing room before the final whistle at Old Trafford on Wednesday in protest and has since been left out of United’s squad for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.
Ten Hag held talks with Ronaldo on Friday and said the Portuguese striker “remains an important part of the team”.
However, Ten Hag said Ronaldo needed to be disciplined for the sake of team culture after already being critical of the player and some of his team-mates for walking out of a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano in early July.
“I have to set standards and values and control them,” Ten Haag said.
“I put in a warning at the start of the season and there should be consequences next time. Otherwise, when you live together, when you play together – and football is a team sport – you have to meet certain standards and I have to control it.”
Ronaldo, 37, took to social media late on Thursday to explain his behavior in the Tottenham match.
“I have always tried to set an example for the youngsters who have grown up in all the teams I have represented,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately, that’s not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment (gets) the best of us.”
Ronaldo trained away from the first team on Friday.
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