Souness picks sides between Ronaldo and Man Utd boss Ten Hag

Erik ten Hag to 'deal with' Cristiano Ronaldo after early exit down tunnel

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Graeme Souness believes Erik ten Hag has ‘shot himself in the foot’ over his handling of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo. Ten Hag has banished Ronaldo to the U21 squad after the iconic striker refused to be used as a substitute and then sensationally exited Old Trafford before the end of the Red Devils’ win over Tottenham on Wednesday. 

Ronaldo will not take part in United’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday. It is unclear if he can work his way back into the fold under the Dutch head coach. 

It was the second time in months that Ronaldo has left Old Trafford in a strop before the end of a game. Ten Hag has now laid down the law and has told Ronaldo to train with the club’s development squad. 

But that has confused Souness, who believes United and Ten Hag have created the issue for themselves. “What we saw at Old Trafford when the team played Tottenham on Wednesday night was a player plainly angry, upset and deeply frustrated — stuck on a substitutes’ bench while players he will rightly consider himself superior to were out on the field,” the Scot wrote in his Daily Mail column.

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“For a player as hugely competitive as him, that will have been agony. An experience he will never have imagined himself facing. I have to say that I can understand how he feels.

“This is a situation entirely of United’s making. A problem they just didn’t need to create. Erik ten Hag has made some bold and courageous decisions, trying to instil discipline and unity.

“How did he think the player was going to respond to being asked to sit on a bench, run up the touchline doing warm-ups, only to remain redundant and unused, with the cameras trained on his every facial expression?

Souness added: “People should only be talking about that performance against Tottenham but instead it is this. Ten Hag and United have shot themselves in the foot and not helped themselves one bit.

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“For Ronaldo to have refused to come on to the pitch when requested by Ten Hag is clearly something the manager cannot accept. Such a fundamental breach of the team ethic is the first step on a road to ruin.”

Ten Hag insisted that he must create a positive culture at Old Trafford, which has prompted him to banish club icon Ronaldo. The 52-year-old said on Friday: “I am the manager, I am responsible for the culture here. I have to set standards and values and have to control them. We are in a team.

“After Rayo Vallecano, I said [leaving early] was unacceptable, but it wasn’t just him. The second time there has to be consequences. That is what has happened. 

“We miss him tomorrow, that is a miss for us and the squad, but I think it is important for the attitude and mentality of the group and now we have to focus on Chelsea – that is the most important.”

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