Patrice Evra jumped in the gap for his buddy Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday. The former left back of, among others, Manchester United saw his old club get rid of Tottenham Hotspur (2-0) without any problems, without Ronaldo taking action. Evra accuses Erik ten Hag of a lack of respect towards the Portuguese, and says ‘that he would always put it on’.
Ronaldo saw his team play one of the better games of the season on Wednesday, but refused to sit on the bench for the full 90 minutes. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner went to the changing rooms a few minutes before time. Although many analysts at home and abroad were unhappy with Ronaldo’s action, the star striker can count on the support of former United teammate Evra.
What is happening here? ?? Cristiano Ronaldo gives up early… We’re live now ?? https://t.co/2kzek2RtwA #ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayFootball pic.twitter.com/yIcWrM1JnN
— Viaplay Sport Netherlands (@viaplaysportnl) October 19, 2022
“I would have started with him,” says Evra at Amazon Prime. The Frenchman then refers to Ten Hag’s words after United’s failure against arch-rival Manchester City (6-3). Ten Hag did not give Ronaldo minutes then, in his own words ‘out of respect’ for the star attacker. “If he respected his (Ronaldo’s, ed.) character”, Evra begins, “he would let him play anyway and let him play every time!”
Fellow analyst Thierry Henry is not so firmly against Ten Hag. The Arsenal legend agrees that “a solution had to be found for the Ronaldo situation”. United icon Rio Ferdinand does the same in his podcast FIVE. “The big problem for Ten Hag is the upcoming transfer window,” it sounds. “He will have to think carefully about what he wants. If he doesn’t put Ronaldo in the starting lineup more often, they should release him from his contract.”
Ferdinand does place a critical note on Ten Hag’s choices. “You wonder why United didn’t let him go in the summer, if they knew he wasn’t in the plans. I find that astonishing. When you look at his career, at his level, you expect the manager of knows in advance whether he will play with Ronaldo or not,” said the former defender.
René van der Gijp also joins ‘team Ronaldo’
René van der Gijp does not have a good word to say about Ten Hag’s choice on Thursday. “Of course that can run away,” says the analyst on Veronica. “Let’s be honest: you have footballers and you have football players.. You have Pele, you have Maradona, you have Cruyff, you have Ronaldo, you have Messi. They are of a different category. That category doesn’t make you warm up two or three times and then sit on the couch. You just don’t. Do you know what we used to say? Lock that trainer up and never let him go.”