Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo has been "disrespected" by Erik ten Hag this season.
United played out a frustrating 0-0 draw against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Sunday, as Ten Hag handed Ronaldo only his second Premier League start of the season. The 37-year-old has been mainly used to lead the line for the Reds in the Europa League, as he struggled for minutes domestically.
Ronaldo was handed his second league start on the weekend after he bailed out his United teammates to score the winning goal against Everton in their previous fixture at Goodison Park. However, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner failed to make another telling contribution as the Reds could not find a way past Nick Pope to break the deadlock.
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Marcus Rashford replaced Ronaldo in the 72nd minute, as the Portuguese international cast a frustrated figure when the substitution was announced. Saha has now claimed that Ten Hag missed a trick by not leaving him on the pitch longer, as he criticised his management of the former Real Madrid man.
Saha told BoyleSports Premier League betting : "Ronaldo has been disrespected. I have not fully agreed with the management of Ten Hag. I can understand why Ronaldo was upset after the Newcastle game because he trusts himself to score, lately, he has not been as lucky and efficient, it happens, and people need to realise he is not a robot.
"When people are tired, Ronaldo is a killer, there is no one better than him when you are under pressure to score important goals, he did it last year and there is no reason for him not to continue that this season. I have not seen any indication physically that shows he's slowing down."
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