Ten Hag explains why he benched Cristiano Ronaldo against Brighton
Sunday, August 7,2022
Reaction from Erik ten Hag of Manchester United as the south coast team beat their hosts 2-1 in the Dutchman’s first English Premier League game in charge of United on Sunday. It was Brighton’s first win at Manchester United in the club’s history.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is now maybe for ten days in team training and that’s too short for for 90 minutes. So that’s the reason we didn’t start him”, he said.
“I think it was a good start (to the game). And then after that, we dropped a level, we dropped down in belief and we make mistakes and the opponent punishes. But I think it’s a good opponent. They work long together. And, you know, when you make mistakes, you get punished for that against such teams”.
“I know it could happen, but I think we should have done better. That’s clear. But I know also that it will not come overnight. And sometimes we played better in the pre-season. Today, we had a really worse period during the first half. And we have to learn from that. That’s also clear
