Erik ten Hag offers hope to Manchester United duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire
Speaking in an interview with Sky via @utdreport as quoted by popular Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has confirmed that benched duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire will have a role to play in upcoming games.
Manchester United emerged 2-1 winners against Liverpool in the Premier League last night thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford whilst Mohamed Salah netted the consolation goal for the Reds.
It was a much-needed boost for the Red Devils to win against their arch-rivals after losing both of their opening games this season. Erik ten Hag will be happy to have gotten the monkey off his back and a win against Liverpool will do him the world of good.
Ten Hag made quite a few changes to the lineup that he fielded against Jurgen Klopp’s men, benching Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Fred and Luke Shaw from the humiliating loss against Brentford a week ago.
It is fair to say that all of Ten Hag’s changes worked very well last night. Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane formed a superb partnership at the back with the Ajax man finally showing why United paid the big money for him.
However, Harry Maguire is the captain of the club and dropping him from the starting line up was a statement from the Dutch tactician. It was not too surprising though considering how the English international has played in recent times.
Speaking about benching the duo, ten Hag continued to insist that he counted on both players and that they will be used in the future.
“I don’t have to mention Maguire, Ronaldo… they will play a role in the future.”
Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo might have been benched last night due to the fact that he may not be 100% ready have missed the entirety of the pre-season, the fact that Anthony Martial was brought on before him could mean something.
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The future of the Portuguese star is already not certain and this is likely to set the cat among the pigeons yet again. Yesterday’s performance was a statement from Man United and Erik ten Hag will be hoping to build on that and make the Red Devils challengers again.
