Cristiano Ronaldo was told days ago he would be on Man Utd bench vs Fulham

On Nov 14, 2022

Manchester United rebel Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly told he would not be starting against Fulham days before the victory at Craven Cottage.

The Portuguese forward played no role in United’s dramatic 2-1 away victory over the west Londoners. Illness purportedly ruled Ronaldo out of the clash against Marco Silva’s side, hence the reason he was not in Erik ten Hag’s squad.

However, a matter of hours after United went into the World Cup break in fifth position, an explosive interview between Ronaldo and Piers Morgan emerged. Yet, it is believed the 37-year-old was given plenty of notice about the role he would play against Fulham.

According to Sky Sports, United told Ronaldo he would not be in the starting XI that lines up against Fulham. Ten Hag preferred to deploy a frontline made up of Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, and Anthony Elanga, with Marcus Rashford as the spearhead of the attack.

With Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho also absent, Ten Hag had one less player on his bench than Fulham. Fortunately, it did not hamper United’s chances as Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to open his Premier League goalscoring account and snatch victory for the Red Devils in the 93rd minute.

However, Ten Hag’s World Cup break will not be smooth as Ronaldo’s interview has likely brought chaos and bedlam to the Red Devils. The United boss himself also found himself in Ronaldo’s line of fire.

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When asked if he has any respect for Ronaldo, the Portuguese forward said: “I don’t have respect for him, because he doesn’t respect me”. At the best of times, Ten Hag has sparingly used Ronaldo throughout the campaign, preferring the more nimble and speedy movements of Rashford.

He also jettisoned Ronaldo from the match-day squad that drew 1-1 away to Chelsea after Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur. Ronaldo also stormed off the pitch and out of Old Trafford before the final whistle to further confound the incident.

Ten Hag chose not to start Ronaldo against Fulham

With all attention away from the Premier League and now on the World Cup, the developments of this matter will certainly be very interesting. Ronaldo will be leading the line for Portugal in Group H – a tricky test against Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea.

Watch ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored: 90 Minutes with Ronaldo’, 8pm on Wednesday and Thursday on TalkTV. Find TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237, Freesat 217 and Sky Glass 508, live and on demand on the TalkTV app, streaming services and at Talk.TV.