Manchester United have dropped points once again in the Premier League and this time, Ole had opted to start Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The forward had been getting regular starts ever since his move back to Old Trafford but on Saturday against Everton the manager chose to use Edinson Cavani up front.
Speaking ahead of the match, Ole had revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo had been put on the bench mainly because he wanted to rest the Portuguese and also rotate his squad.
Talking about his team selection, Ole said: “Wednesday night was a big effort, a big emotional and physical output, so we needed to freshen it up when it’s an early kick-off.
“The start of this game is going to be very important, and we’ve got some very good players coming on.”
2007 – Cristiano Ronaldo is starting a Premier League match at Old Trafford from the bench for the first time since May 2007, when Man Utd lost 0-1 to West Ham on the final day of the 2006-07 season. Unusual.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 2, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo did come on in the second half of the match, replacing Cavani in the 57th minute but the forward failed to help his side avoid another home disappointment.
After the 1-1 draw vs Everton, many pundits have come out to criticize the manager for not starting with Ronaldo but the manager has strongly defended his decision to use CR7 as a sub.
“You make decisions throughout the season, you’ve got to manage the players’ workload,” said Solskjaer. “The decision was, for me, the correct one today.”
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“We have started better than last season, but it is still not what we wanted.”
To be honest, Edinson Cavani put in a fine shift while he was on the pitch and the South American also had a fine header saved by the Everton keeper.
We can understand why some pundits and fans wanted Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch from the very first minute but at his age, there’s no way he can play week in week out.
In midweek, he played the full match against Villarreal so it only made sense to put him on the bench vs Everton and give his ageing legs a bit of rest.
