Mike Phelan has refuted suggestions that the coaching staff at Man Utd were encouraged to start Cristiano Ronaldo last season amid the club’s poor form.
Ronaldo fared well in an individual sense last season as he returned to Man Utd in the summer from Juventus.
The experienced forward netted 24 goals across all competitions in what proved to be a dire campaign for the Red Devils.
The Portugal international looked to jump ship in the summer with a move to a team competing in the Champions League in his mind.
To his annoyance, he did not get his wish and he is now down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag ahead of the World Cup.
Ronaldo was left on the bench on Wednesday night as United put in an excellent performance to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.
The attacker expressed his displeasure at not being brought on as he left the dugout and walked down the tunnel before the final whistle.
Several pundits have spoken out both to criticise and defend Ronaldo in recent hours. Tim Sherwood has slatted him, suggesting that it was “not a good look”.
“I think it’s quite shocking. [Erik] Ten Hag made all his changes and Ronaldo has just gone down the tunnel.
“It’s a public show of dissent against the manager. It’s not a good look, in my opinion. I’m quite angry about it. I love Ronaldo but I think there are ways you go about it.
“He [Ten Hag] talked about in the Manchester derby about not putting him on the pitch because he wanted to show him respect, and I feel Ronaldo’s shown him a lack of disrespect by walking down the tunnel.”
Phelan was United’s assistant under Sir Alex Ferguson between 2008 and 2013. He returned to the club in 2019 and he worked with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last season.
He has now rubbished claims that United’s hierachy suggested to the coaching staff that Ronaldo should play.
“No. No, not really, not to the point that it [the suggestion] was made,” Phelan told Astro SuperSport (via The Daily Mail).
“When I talk about the noise and the outside influences, then yes. There is a lot of talk about [him].
“If Cristiano plays and he scores, Manchester United win. If he doesn’t play and we lose, then Cristiano should have played. That will always be there and you can’t avoid that.
“But, from our point of view, every manager and every coach talks only about winning the game of football. And how you are going to do that. That is the hardest thing.
“So you pick the best team and the best…
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