Erik ten Hag has stated that he is in charge of “standards and values” after suspending Cristiano Ronaldo from Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.
The manager acted after Ronaldo refused to act as a substitute and left the Old Trafford tunnel during Wednesday’s win over Tottenham.
Ten Hag said: “I am the manager, I am responsible for the top sports culture here and I have to set standards and values and I have to control them. We are a team and in the team we have values and standards and I have to control that.”
The manager referred to Ronaldo who earlier left Old Trafford before the end of July’s friendly with Rayo Vallecano after the attacker was replaced at half-time.
“After Rayo Vallecano I told [him] it was unacceptable, but he wasn’t alone. But that’s for everyone, so if it’s the second time there will be consequences. That’s what we did now. We’ll miss him tomorrow, it’s a miss for us, for the team, but I think it’s important for the attitude and mentality of the group and now we have to focus on Chelsea because that’s the most important thing.”
Ten Hag made the decision to suspend Ronaldo despite Anthony Martial, his other frontline No. 9, remaining injured.