Cristiano Ronaldo is back in Manchester United’s team in his game of hokey-cokey with Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo has been certainly been in, out and shaken all about because of the number of times he has been dropped and recalled by Ten Hag. He was first axed after the embarrassing 4–0 rout at Brentford on August 13 and did not return to United’s starting line-up in the Premier League until Newcastle on October 16.
He was then dumped completely for the draw at Chelsea and fined two weeks’ wages of £1million when Ten Hag claimed he refused to come on as a late substitute against Tottenham.
After sitting out the trip to Stamford Bridge on the naughty step, Ten Hag brought him back for last week’s Europa League win over Sheriff and he kept his place for Sunday’s win against West Ham.
Ronaldo is expected to continue on Thursday evening against Real Sociedad, mainly because of the absences of Anthony Martial, Antony and Jadon Sancho.
Ten Hag is happy to have him back in the fold because he feels he has learnt his lesson. The United boss says he does not know how he is feeling right now and says he is still a potent attacking weapon for the Reds.
“First of all, if you talk about his feelings, you have to ask him, not me,” he said. “He’s really professional.
“He’s in the group and he’s a really important part of this group and in Spain, he’s a real threat to every defence, every gap he will use.”
Martial is continuing his return from the back injury, which has ruled him out for a month, and he trained again at Carrington on Wednesday morning before United jetted out to Spain. The French striker was left in Manchester, along with Antony and Sancho, and Ten Hag is pleased with his progress.
“Jadon Sancho was ill, Anthony Martial still is in recovery rehab,” said the Dutchman. “He has to finish that. He did train this morning, so we’re going in the right direction.”
Their absence means Marcus Rashford is likely to start on the left and Anthony Elanga the right, either side of Bruno Fernandes, who is certain to play because he is suspended on Sunday.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are expected to play in the two holding midfield roles in a sign of Ten Hag’s determination to get the win by two clear goals United need to top the group.
Victor Lindelof trained on Wednesday morning after missing the West Ham game through illness, but Ten Hag may go with Harry Maguire as Lisandro Martinez’s centre-half partner.
Tyrell Malacia should get the nod at left-back, while Diogo Dalot and David De Gea are expected to maintain their run of starting every game for United this season. Ten Hag is conscious of the workload he is placing on Dalot and is confident he can cope.
“It’s hard when you have to play every game, but he has a really good physical profile and I’m sure he will keep going, keep developing, and I am confident he can do that.”
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen; Elanga, Fernandes, Rashford; Ronaldo.
