Varun Pai
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals that it is not easy to bench Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo
Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Manchester Evening News), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo but admits it is hard to leave him out of the team.
The Portuguese, like a lot of United stars, was called up for international duty this month and delivered for his country again as he scored in both games, including a hat-trick against Luxembourg.
The 36-year-old has been in good form for the Red Devils as well as he has scored five goals in five starts for his new club. Thus, it was puzzling when he was left out of the first team for the game against Everton before the international break. Although he eventually did come on as a substitute, it was too late to save the game as the Toffees held them to a draw.
Solskjaer was questioned regarding his selection of the former Juventus man in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Leicester game. The Norwegian responded (h/t Manchester Evening News):
“He’s (Ronaldo) an exceptional player, exceptional finisher, goal scorer, exceptional pro, it’s hard to leave him out, and I think everyone would love to, how do you say, if you can go and play six games in six days and play the same XI every time.
“It’s great, but rotation, we need to get to April/May with everyone firing. We got to May in the final stretch of last season, and we were too tired… It’s nice to have him on the pitch, he’ll always come up with the goods. The more we have him on the pitch, the better.”
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Quite possibly still one of the fittest players in the game, Ronaldo has shown time and again that he can play week-in and week-out if he has to.
However, given that United want to go deep into every competition this year, the Portuguese international might be used efficiently as they could save his best for the big games– something they will experience a lot of in the upcoming weeks.
