Erik ten Hag said he will ‘deal with’ Cristiano Ronaldo on Thursday after his latest strop at Manchester United.
While the Red Devils put in their best performance under the Dutch coach as they beat Tottenham 2-0, Ronaldo made sure all the headlines will be about him – and he didn’t even play.
The Portuguese great was dropped to the bench against Spurs, perhaps as punishment for his reaction to being substituted in the previous goalless draw with Newcastle – the forward shaking his head and looking visibly annoyed when he was replaced by Marcus Rashford.
But that was nothing compared to his mood on Wednesday night, where he remained seated on the bench, and then decided he’d had enough on 89 minutes when he stormed down the tunnel before the game had even finished.
The No.7 was branded a ‘disgrace’ by former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara on talkSPORT, while ex-Chelsea defender Jason Cundy said ‘it was all for show’ and his actions were a ‘slap in the face’ to his manager and his authority.
Ten Hag was asked about Ronaldo’s strop after the game, and said he’d deal with that later, preferring instead to talk about his pride for his team’s performance.
“I don’t pay attention to that, I will deal with that tomorrow,” the Dutchman said.
“I want to focus on the team, it was a magnificent team performance.”
He added on Amazon Prime Video: “I have seen him [leaving], I didn’t speak to him [Ronaldo] after. I will deal with that tomorrow.
“Today I enjoyed this performance and we are celebrating this victory.
“I want to keep the focus on the team, it was a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.
“It was a performance also from the subs that came on. It was a squad performance. What we have seen today was 11 players who defend, 11 players who attack, there was a lot of dynamic.
“I am pleased with the team, I think it was the best team performance so far this season, so you see a team developing, you already see the last weeks the way we want to play.
“We get every day better on the pitch. Not every game will be like today but Spurs is a magnificent team and it was really enjoyable to watch.
“Now we have to recover from this and we have a big game against Chelsea. The Premier League is so exciting.”
Old Trafford legend Patrice Evra was on punditry duty for Amazon Prime, and insisted he was not trying to protect his old friend Ronaldo.
But he similarly said the focus should not be on his former teammate but instead on the side’s stunning display, saying: ‘We have to stop talking about Cristiano’.
The Frenchman, who was seen eating the Old Trafford grass before the game, said: “Everyone is different… I want to focus on the United performance.
“That’s not to protect Cristiano. We don’t know if he said to Ten Hag he was going in, and we’re trying to make a story of him walking in.
“Maybe he said to Ten Hag he’s going inside for some treatment.
“I don’t want to find excuse; I want focus on the performance of United. We have to stop talking everyday about Cristiano.”
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