Cristiano Ronaldo feels irritated when he is not playing for Manchester United, Erik ten Hag acknowledged on Wednesday, but reiterated that Ronaldo is happy at Old Trafford.
After the club’s unsuccessful season in 2021–2022, questions over the 37-year-future old’s dominated the summer transfer window.
Ronaldo skipped United’s preseason tour of Thailand and Australia due to a family matter, despite receiving an obscene offer from Saudi Arabia, no Champions League heavyweights moved to sign the Portugal forward.
Thursday’s Europa League meeting between United and Omonia Nicosia might be the forward’s fourth start in as many games.
When Ronaldo was benched for Sunday’s 6-3 derby thrashing at Manchester City, speculation over his future before the trip to Cyprus resurfaced.
In his pre-game news conference, United manager Ten Hag said, “I never discuss about my talks with the players.
“They stand in our way. That much is obvious.
“But I’m here to warn you all that this is not a club where you have to be, particularly Cristiano, if you’re happy or content sitting on the bench.
“We all know how fiercely competitive he is. Of course, when he isn’t playing, he isn’t happy.
“But as I’ve previously said and will again, he is training effectively, is in a good mood, is driven, and gives it his all. That’s what we anticipate.”
Ten Hag complimented Pep Guardiola and the City management team for the harsh reality check they delivered at the Etihad.
In a game that highlighted the disparity between Ten Hag’s team and the two-time Premier League winners City, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each scored a hat-trick.
The Dutch leader said that it had been a challenging day.
“As usual, we examine the facts while being realistic. We need to go on and learn from it since it served as a wake-up call.
“You always show respect to your adversaries, but we will continue to follow our ideology, norms, and ideals.”
Added him: “So I want to thank Pep and City for the lesson. We’ll take it into consideration and realize we need to improve upon everything.”
After the loss, the United players reportedly got together to discuss “the hard things, the errors we made,” according to Bruno Fernandes.
The offensive midfielder said, “Obviously, we know the game we played was not good enough for our standards, for what we have set for ourselves, for what we want to accomplish this season.
“Not just one or two players, but the whole club, has been let down by us. We didn’t perform well enough as a team to win the game or earn points from it.”
Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane, two defenders, are among those not traveling with United to Cyprus.
After losing to Real Sociedad and winning against Sheriff Tiraspol, the team is now in second place in Group E.