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Cristiano Ronaldo given warning from Erik ten Hag despite show of confidence in striker
Cristiano Ronaldo was welcomed back into the Manchester United team against Sherriff in the Europa League on Thursday and scored his third goal of an unhappy season
Erik ten Hag has told Cristiano Ronaldo he can match last season’s scoring tally - but warned the Manchester United striker he must work for it.
Ronaldo, 37, returned to Ten Hag’s team and netted the third in a comfortable Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night.
It came seven days after he refused to come on against Tottenham and stormed out of Old Trafford before full-time. He may be back on the bench for the weekend visit of West Ham despite his third goal of the season.
But Ten Hag still believes Ronaldo can replicate last season’s goalscoring form which saw him fire in 24 in all competitions.
The Dutch boss said: “It's up to him.
“But I think when you collect all the chances he creates, the team creates for him in the last weeks, you see he's still capable to get in the right positions and he's still capable of finishing them. I think it's possible, yeah.”
It was put to Ten Hag ahead of the Hammers clash if Ronaldo’s performance on Thursday was enough to get him back into his Premier League side.
But he said: “I know some see it like this but I don't have a Europe team and I don't have a Premier League team. I look at the opponent and what we need, what suits the opponent. Now I have to focus on West Ham United for Sunday.
“We will pick the team to start but also have a plan B or plan C in the pocket to win that game. That's what we need finally, to win games, and for that we not only need 11 players, we need the whole squad.”
Daily Star Sunday
Cristiano Ronaldo was welcomed back into the Manchester United team against Sherriff in the Europa League on Thursday and scored his third goal of an unhappy season
Erik ten Hag has told Cristiano Ronaldo he can match last season’s scoring tally - but warned the Manchester United striker he must work for it.
Ronaldo, 37, returned to Ten Hag’s team and netted the third in a comfortable Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night.
It came seven days after he refused to come on against Tottenham and stormed out of Old Trafford before full-time. He may be back on the bench for the weekend visit of West Ham despite his third goal of the season.
But Ten Hag still believes Ronaldo can replicate last season’s goalscoring form which saw him fire in 24 in all competitions.
The Dutch boss said: “It's up to him.
“But I think when you collect all the chances he creates, the team creates for him in the last weeks, you see he's still capable to get in the right positions and he's still capable of finishing them. I think it's possible, yeah.”
It was put to Ten Hag ahead of the Hammers clash if Ronaldo’s performance on Thursday was enough to get him back into his Premier League side.
But he said: “I know some see it like this but I don't have a Europe team and I don't have a Premier League team. I look at the opponent and what we need, what suits the opponent. Now I have to focus on West Ham United for Sunday.
“We will pick the team to start but also have a plan B or plan C in the pocket to win that game. That's what we need finally, to win games, and for that we not only need 11 players, we need the whole squad.”
Daily Star Sunday