06 March 2024 , 09:40
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo complained when he was left on the bench after rejoining Manchester United - even though he encouraged the Norwegian to do so.
The Portuguese superstar, 39, made his name at Old Trafford in the early years of his career before joining Real Madrid in a blockbuster world-record deal. He was brought back to United for a second spell by Solskjaer back in the summer of 2021, but things didn't exactly go to plan.
Ronaldo plundered 24 goals in 38 games in the 2021/22 campaign, however, Solskjaer was sacked just months after bringing the forward back to the club. Ronaldo then found his game time limited under Erik ten Hag the following season and ended up leaving the club after less than 18 months.
Solskjaer, who has kept a relatively low profile since leaving United, has now opened up on his experience of coaching the multi-time Ballon d'Or winner. And he outlined that Ronaldo had told him prior to signing that he should be rested every four games - even if he did kick off when Solskjaer tried to put that plan into action.
Speaking on the Stick to Football Podcast, Solskjaer said: “Part of signing Cristiano Ronaldo was getting that passion from him, but that did have its complications.
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“You’ve got Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who can learn from Cristiano as he’s the best, the most disciplined and he’s been the best player in the world, and you think he’s going to help them.
“When he arrived at the club, he told me to start him for three games in a row, and then put me on the bench for the fourth game, but he’s so passionate so when I did that, he didn’t like it.”
Join the debate! Was re-signing Ronaldo a mistake? Let us know here.
Ronaldo was never happy at being benched (Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA)Much was made of Ronaldo's inability to press opponents, even during the 2021/22 campaign, where he was United's top scorer by some distance. Solskjaer admits that United had to adapt to get the best out of the veteran but insisted that was "no problem".
He added: “With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem. Without him [pressing], we had to change a little bit the different roles we’d gotten used to. We were one of the highest pressing teams before [Ronaldo joined]. We let Dan James go when Cristiano came in, and they’re two different types of players. It was the right decision to make for me – it didn’t turn out to be the right one.”
After reaching an agreement to terminate his Manchester United contract six months earlier, Ronaldo sealed a lucrative switch to the Saudi Pro League by joining Al-Nassr.
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