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Cristiano Ronaldo reveals why he refused to come off the bench against Tottenham in the latest swipe at Erik ten Hag.
In his most recent jab at Erik ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo finally explains why he declined to come off the bench against Tottenham.
Cristiano Ronaldo acknowledges that he regrets leaving Old Trafford before Manchester United’s exhibition game against Rayo Vallecano, but he maintains that Erik ten Hag ‘provoked’ him into storming down the tunnel early against Tottenham.
In October, United put on their greatest performance of the year to defeat Antonio Conte’s team 2-0, but the performance was overshadowed by Ronaldo leaving the dugout and going to the locker room after 89 minutes.
It was later revealed that Ronaldo had refused to come on as a late substitute, a decision that saw him exiled from the squad for the following league match against Chelsea.
It happened following the incident in July when he departed the stadium before the end of United’s last preseason game against Rayo Vallecano after playing the first 45 minutes.
After serving a brief suspension following the Spurs game, Ronaldo started the next week’s Europa League match against FC Sheriff and captained the team three days later against West Ham United.
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While he holds some regret over the pre-season incident, the 37-year-old aimed another swipe at Ten Hag by insisting he is ‘not the kind of player’ who should be coming off the bench in the final minutes of a game that is already won.
‘Piers I will be honest with you, it’s something that I regret to left from the stadium,’ Ronaldo told Piers Morgan Uncensored: 90 Minutes with Ronaldo.
‘Probably, or maybe no, I don’t know. It’s difficult to tell you 100% but let’s say I regret, but in the same way I felt provoked by the coach. Not allowed for me, a coach to put me in three minutes in a game. Sorry, I’m not that kind of player. I know what I can give to the teams.’
Ronaldo was not the only United player to leave the Rayo Vallecano game early with Diogo Dalot also pictured making his way out of Old Trafford. ‘We are a team, we are a squad. You have to stay until the end,’ ten Hag later said of the incident.
Ronaldo has now claimed there were eight players who left early, insisting he was the only one to receive criticism because he is ‘the black sheep’.
He added: ‘Me and eight players, but they mentioned only my name…everyone do that.
‘Last year, many players did the same. In that game eight players do the same but they only speak about the black sheep which is me, which is, I completely understand, okay, it’s done, I apologise to the coach and for me, the chapter was closed.’