ERIK TEN HAG says Cristiano Ronaldo is happy at Manchester United but understandably “p***** off” when he does not play, like against Manchester City on Sunday.
The summer was dominated by speculation about the 37-year-old’s future after the forward’s frustrations emerged at the way his first season back at Old Trafford unfolded.
Ronaldo received an eye-watering offer from Saudi Arabia, but no Champions League giants made their move for the Portuguese, who missed the pre-season tour or Thailand and Australia due to a family issue.
The forward has been catching up on that missed training time in the opening months of the season and could start his fourth match in all competitions when United take on Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League.
Thursday’s match comes just days after Ronaldo was left on the bench for the 6-3 derby defeat at Manchester City, leading to a variety of questions about his future and happiness before the trip to Cyprus.
“That he’s not coming on when we are 4-0 down, 5-1 down, 6-1 down and I don’t bring him (on) out of respect,” Ten Hag said.
“So, nothing to do (with) what’s happening for the future, what’s happening for January or next year.
“I don’t see he is unhappy, so he is happy. He is training well.
“He’s enjoying, I think everyone is training well. It’s a good spirit in the training.
“That’s not the point, but it’s important because it’s a base to work well.”
When asked again about Ronaldo’s happiness, Ten Hag said: “He’s not happy that he wasn’t playing Sunday, don’t get me wrong, but that wasn’t the question.
“The question was about how he is on the training pitch, his mood when he’s around and he’s happy.
“But of course he wants to play and he’s p***** off when he’s not playing. Clear.”
Ronaldo seemed in good spirits during the open section of training at Carrington on Wednesday morning and Ten Hag maintains a good relationship with him.
“I never talk about my conversations with the players,” he said. “They are between us. That’s quite clear.
“But when I tell you all the players, when you’re here and you’re happy, or satisfied, when you’re on the bench, this is not a club where you have to be, and especially Cristiano.
“He’s really competitive, as we all know. He’s not happy of course when he’s not playing.
“But I already said and, I have to repeat, he’s training well, he has a good mood, he’s motivated and he gives his best. That is what we expect.”
Against this huge Fiji team I think it’s fair to say that everyone on the bench will get a game
@Niall Cunneen: this will be quite close id say
I hope McCloskey will be a mainstay in the squad after this month
@Shcoop: I bet he won’t do whatever he was told not to do in his last game.
Have to say the technique on the bag hit is all wrong
Head across body , asking for a concussion
Sorry , pedantic I know
@Tony O Dwyer: I don’t think they’re doing tackle practice there…
@Tony O Dwyer: Chris Farrell should be holding that tackle pad. I’d have both McCloskey and Farrell hitting the forwards’ pads.
@Tony O Dwyer: Good point! He won’t want Joe seeing that photo. It always annoys me seeing pro players do it. The worst one I ever saw was Leigh Halfpenny getting knocked out for refusing to tackle with his left shoulder against Italy. What’s even worse is that he still won’t tackle with his left shoulder to this day!
@Conor Paddington: It’s still asking for injury. We all know that McCloskey is going to win a physical contest with Carbery in training but if it’s a game and he doesn’t, he risks serious injury. He is also taking most of the power out of his cleanout by having his neck in front of the man.
@Tony O Dwyer: It’s a rucking drill.
@EK: it’s not asking for injury if he’s not practicing his tackling.
@Gary: Correct, it’s a rucking drill and the height of Carbery’s feet off the ground suggests that McCloskey hit the pad low and then lifted his mate which is the proper rucking technique.
@Conor Paddington: How wonderfully disingenuous of you to ignore my second point. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that whatever drill McCloskey does, whether it’s tackling or rucking, should be practiced with perfect technique to prepare him for game situations. Otherwise he’s practicing a mistake.
This isn’t a witchhunt, just an attempt from a coach to preach the virtues of good habits in training. Unless of course Conor Paddington is an alias for Allen Iverson then…..it’s just practice man.
@EK: I would like the record to state that I am not disingenuous, just lazy. I didn’t read that far. Sorry. That said, we still don’t know what the drill is, my initial point stands. But as you said, it’s a bad angle if he is clearing out.
@Conor Paddington: Fair enough and point taken.
@Tom Reilly: Agreed but the purpose seems to be to unbalance the ball carrier for either a second to secure possession.
Murray might be on gardening leave mariahh
@Range Rover: Carey?