Erik ten Hag has backed Cristiano Ronaldo, saying that he is “in better shape now” as a result of scoring again.
The forward’s future was in doubt the entire summer as Ronaldo sought a transfer elsewhere.
He missed the preseason as a result, and he subsequently lost his spot in Ten Hag’s starting XI.
But when Anthony Martial hurt himself against Everton, Ronaldo took Anthony Martial’s place and then scored the game-winning goal.
Ten Hag declared: “I want to support him as good as possible. We have certain demands from players, what we expect in certain positions.”
“I want to get the best out of him, he’s in better shape now and I’m happy with that.”
“At the start, it was the case (lack of fitness), it’s proven once again, no one can miss a pre-season.”
The 37-year-old Ronaldo is now anticipated to captain United’s offensive unit on Thursday at Old Trafford against the Cypriot Omonoia Nicosia FC.
Martial, 26, though, was seen making his way to practice, he is still battling with a hip injury and will miss the Europa League match later tonight.
Ten Hag asserted: “I’ve had several talks with him and I’m really disappointed for him.”
“All the minutes he has played well, even on Sunday the assist for Antony.”
“The pressing was good, he was an important factor and played well.”
“But obviously, he fell out and it’s disappointing for him and disappointing for the team as well. Of course, I want every player to be available.”
“Sometimes it’s disappointing when they’re not available, especially with all the games coming up.”
“When they’re not available you have to deal with the situation and I focus on the players available.”
Additionally, Ten Hag revealed that Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 24, Donny van de Beek, 25, and Harry Maguire, 29, are all out due to injuries.
United is in last place in their Europa League group after losing to Real Sociedad in September.
Erik ten Hag also cautioned that his team must finish first in their division because they are now three points back.
He said: “We are going all out for the victory. It is Europe, it is tough. I told the players weeks ago, it was important to win the group.”
“We want to win all the games, but it’s clear, we want to avoid that.”
Erik ten Hag in United
Manchester United makes improvement with each victory in the Premier League. They made an upset against Liverpool, kept a clean sheet against Southampton, three straight victories in the league against Leicester, an overthrow of the leaders, Arsenal, and a comeback win against Everton.
Up until Sunday night, United hadn’t triumphed in front of a full house at Goodison Park since 2018 New Year’s Day.
“You see this team is, attitude-wise, mentally-wise, they are developing,” Ten Hag noted, “so I am happy with the process. We have to keep the process going.”
No other team in the Premier League has given up less goals than Everton, who hosted United with the league’s most stingy defense. Their advantage in the fifth minute made things more difficult since United are not patient lock-pickers. However, before the end of the first half, goals from Antony and Cristiano Ronaldo were enough to give United the maximum three points.
How appropriate it was for Christian Eriksen, a seasoned safe-cracker, to cheer on his colleagues while Alex Iwobi and his teammates savored his elegant curler. The United supporters were audibly optimistic in the final 10 minutes of the game, as Everton fought for the equaliser.
In hindsight, Frank Lampard made a poor choice in picking Neal Maupay. United’s Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez handled themselves arrogantly, and Idrissa Gueye looked every bit the 33-year-old that he is.
Ronaldo this season
Some statisticians claim that Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player in history to have reached the milestone of scoring 700 club goal. He reached the milestone against Everton at Goodison Park last weekend.
Throughout his 20-year career, Ronaldo has played in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy.
Given that the most of his career was spent playing in Spain, it makes sense that an English team isn’t among the top five clubs he has scored the most goals against.
The best record he has versus English opposition is 14 goals in 20 games against Tottenham, who are his favorite Premier League opponent.
Last season, Spurs defeated United by scoring four goals which undoubtedly helped Spurs rise in the rankings.
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