Erik ten Hag has been massively criticised for his treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo so far this season.
The Portuguese forward only started one game for the Red Devils this term after his attempts to leave the club during the summer transfer window failed. Instead, Marcus Rashford has been selected to lead the line for United throughout the early weeks of the campaign and that seems to have been a clever decision with the academy graduate extending his promising recent form with a brace in the 3-1 win against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Despite that, former Dutch international Wim Kieft has taken aim at Ten Hag for his treatment of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and suggested that seeing Ronaldo restricted to the sidelines is not a nice image.
As quoted by Dutch outlet Soccer News : “It [Ronaldo on the bench] continues to hurt my eyes. Come on… An unexpected end to a great career.”
He added: “Is he on the bench because he’s so bad, or has he become such a d*ck?”
Despite that, former Man City defender Pablo Zabaleta has claimed that even if the Portuguese remains restricted to the sidelines, he still has an important role to play at Old Trafford. Speaking to ESPN, he said: "I would like Cristiano Ronaldo to be a mentor for the young players.
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“Imagine if you have players like [Jadon] Sancho, [Marcus] Rashford, Antony, all these guys and you have Cristiano coming to you and saying you have done this and that well, you have to understand your position.
“He's not getting any younger, he can teach the young lads a lot of things and that would be nice to see. I know his personality, he's been a top player, always wants to play but I think at some point you must accept that you can't play every single game and you have to support the young players and wish them well.”
Whilst Ronaldo has been restricted to the substitutes bench for the vast majority of the season thus far, he could well have an opportunity to play for United in midweek as they get their latest European campaign underway.
The Red Devils take on Spanish side Real Sociedad in their opening group game at Old Trafford on Thursday evening. Whilst Ronaldo has not appeared in Europe’s secondary competition in nearly two decades, he has put together an excellent record against the La Liga outfit throughout his career.
In nine outings against Sociedad, the forward has won each of those matches - scoring an astounding 15 goals in the process.
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has already named the squad that he intends to use for the group stages. Ronaldo is of course included - as are all of their six summer signings.
