Not Sending Ronaldo Down When MU Was Massacred City, Erik Ten Hag: To Protect His Great Career

Cristiano Ronaldo (Instagram @cristiano)

JAKARTA - Manchester United (MU) coach Eric Ten Hag revealed the reason why he did not field Cristiano Ronaldo during the duel against Manchester City. The German coach admitted that he deliberately did not play Ronaldo to protect the star from shame.

In the Manchester derby which took place at the Etihad Stadium, Sunday, October 2 night WIB, MU as the visitors lost 3-6 to The Citizens. Even at halftime, the Red Devils were 0-4 behind the hosts.

City's big score at the start of the round could not be separated from Erling Haaland's outstanding performance with a hat-trick throughout the game. On the other hand, when Haaland scored three goals until the beginning of the second half, Ronaldo only watched his team from the sidelines with a restless face.

This situation made Ten Hag fail to include Ronaldo in the second half of the follow-up minutes. The coach did that to protect Ronaldo from shame.

"I'm not going to take him in because we're lagging behind. (The decision) is out of respect for Cristiano (Ronaldo), for his big career," Ten Hag was quoted as saying by Sky Sport, Monday.

Commenting on the bitter final result, Ten Hag again highlighted Haaland's slick performance. He said he had initially drawn up the best tactics in this match, but his troops had been careless since the first minute.

"The original plan was to show courage and confidence, but we haven't done it since the first minute," said Ten Hag.

"We left Haaland and we were not strict in keeping him until all this happened," continued the coach.

According to Ten Hag, the Red Devils could not win the match due to a lack of confidence. Ten Hag regretted that because he felt that MU could act much bolder than when against City.

"We're in the process and I knew beforehand that big teams like City, when you're not good, you're going to get hit and we're not good. We don't follow the rules and principles of the way we play and you're going to be beaten," he said.

In a prestigious match that was heartbreaking for MU, the fans also showed an antipathy attitude to their favorite team. They chose to leave the stadium in the first half to avoid the traumatic first 45 minutes of shame.