'Why me not one of the younger players?' – Rangnick lets slip what Ronaldo said in epic strop just before Rashford goal
RALF RANGNICK has once again insisted that he made the right call in taking Cristiano Ronaldo off at Brentford.
Ronaldo threw a major strop after he was hooked with Mason Greenwood for Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire.
United were 2-0 up and Rashford quickly made it 3-0 before Brentford got a late one back.
Manager Rangnick wanted to make a change to avoid what happened at Villa Park the previous weekend when they surrendered a 2-0 lead.
Rangnick said: “The job of a football manager is to help teams win games and, for me, it was clear after the experience we had at Villa Park that this time we had to do things better.
“The only question was who we take off. Cristiano is a prolific goal scorer and a player who always wants to play and score goals.
"He was also asking ‘why me not one of the younger players?’
“The answer came five minutes later when one of the younger players scored the third goal.
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"Maybe Cristiano could also have scored that goal but football is not always ‘maybe’, it’s about getting a decision in the right moment.”
Ahead of this weekend’s visit of fourth placed West Ham, he has now told Ronaldo that he is not the first and will not be the last big name player to be subbed in a game.
The Red Devils boss said: “He has not been substituted, I believe, for the first time in his career. There have been a few other substitutions as far as I know, even under Sir Alex.
“A player like Cristiano doesn’t like to be substituted, that is pretty normal. His reaction was emotional but for me not a problem at all.
“I have managed other players, maybe with not as quite a big name as Cristiano. I know how these players react to being substituted.
“But then again it is about the team and getting points.
“We are in a position where every single game is of maximum importance.
“The team is more important than no matter who it is – Cristiano, Edinson [Cavani], Bruno [Fernandes] or any other player.
"Bruno has also been substituted and was not happy with that in the last couple of weeks. It’s about what is in best interests of the team.”
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