Manchester United boss explains why he substituted Ronaldo vs Brentford

January 20, 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t best pleased to leave the pitch during Manchester United’s 3-1 win at Brentford on Wednesday night.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was hooked off by Ralf Rangnick just as the Red Devils looked to have assumed control of the game by taking a 2-0 lead at the Brentford Community Stadium.

In fact, Ronaldo had just played a key role in United doubling their advantage by providing the pre-assist for Mason Greenwood’s goal with a fine chested pass around the centre circle.

However, there wasn’t to be any time for Ronaldo to pen his own name on the scoresheet with Rangnick instead deciding to pump the brakes by switching to a back five.

As such, Ronaldo was the forward to be subbed off with Harry Maguire being introduced in his place to try and ensure that there wasn’t to be a rerun of the collapse against Aston Villa last week.

But the 36-year-old wasn’t exactly happy with the decision and quickly went viral across social media for a furious reaction that saw him throwing his coat to the ground in frustration.

However, broadcast footage showed that Rangnick tried to make peace with his star player, chatting to the Real Madrid legend just a few moments after Marcus Rashford had put United 3-0 up.

As such, one of the burning questions that was posed to Rangnick at full-time was how exactly his conversation with Ronaldo went down and the German was more than happy to spill the beans

In fact, not only was it fascinating to hear just how relaxed Rangnick was about airing his private conversation with Ronaldo, but it was very interesting to learn about how matter-of-fact it was.

According to Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, Rangnick revealed: “He said, ‘Why me, why did you take me off?’ I said I had to take the decision for the team, for the club. Maybe in a few years when he is a coach he will understand.”

Per the BBC, he further explained: “I told him [Ronaldo] we were 2-0 up and we have to learn lessons from Villa Park. After that game, I was angry with myself for not changing to a back five.

“Today was exactly the same situation and I did not want to make the same mistake again. I said: ‘Listen Cristiano, you are 36 and in great shape, but when you are a head coach, you will see it through the glasses of a head coach.’

“My job is to take the decisions in the best interest of the team and the club and I hope he sees it the same way.”

As the United coach later said himself, it’s understandable that a striker of Ronaldo’s stature would want to stay on the pitch to snatch a goal, but the right decision had to made for the team overall.

And to Rangnick’s credit, the switch to a back five certainly worked more effectively than the plan against Villa with only Ivan Toney’s consolation goal threatening to rain on United’s parade.

So, sure, Ronaldo throwing a tantrum might not have been a good look for United, but Rangnick showed his mettle by happily telling both the man himself and reporters why it was necessary.