Ranknik: “Ronaldo asked me why I didn’t bring out a smaller player”

Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted in the 71st minute of the game Brentford – United (1-3). with Maguire taking his place and didn’t hide his frustration with Ralph Rangnick as he walked to his team bench.

The German coach referred to this incident with regard to the Red Devils’ confrontation with West Ham (22.1.) and made it clear that the topic became more extensive than it should have been.

At the same time, he revealed the Portugal star asked him why he wasn’t switching to a smaller player, stressing that Marcus Rasford, who also scored United’s third goal, provided the answer.

“Well, we don’t need to make so much noise about it. I can only speak about myself and my coaching staff. A coach’s job is to help the team win the game and our experience at Villa Park made it clear that this time things had to be better. They did better and the only question was who would we take out.

Of course, Cristiano is a prolific goalscorer and a player who always wants to play and score. He also asked me “why didn’t you change one of the younger players?”. The answer came five minutes later when one of the younger players (Rasford) scored the third goal.

“Maybe Cristiano could have scored the third goal, but football isn’t about maybe, it’s about making a decision at the right moment.”, said Rangnik characteristically.