EPL: Rangnick Reveals Why He May Drop Ronaldo Against West Ham

Manchester United coach, Ralf Rangnick, has hinted that he may not include Cristiano Ronaldo in his squad to face West Ham in the English Premier League match this weekend.

Naija News understands that United will on Saturday, January 22 host West Ham at Old Trafford.

The German manager is, however, contemplating not playing Ronaldo, saying that the Portuguese is an injured player.

Rangnick was quoted on Friday as saying during a press conference ahead of the EPL clash that Ronaldo has a neck problem and had received treatment yesterday for a couple of hours.

The Red Devils coach said: “Cristiano is a question mark because he has a problem with his neck.

“He received treatment yesterday for two to three hours and we will have to wait to see how he feels today,” said Rangnick.

Naija News reports that Rangnick’s comment about the 36-year-old player is coming days after Ronaldo expressed his dissatisfaction when he was substituted for Marcus Rashford against Brentford.

Ronaldo questioned the manager’s decision to take him off.

Rangnick was seen whispering to the Portuguese and trying to calm him after he asked, “Why me, why did you take me off?”

At his post-match interview, Rangnick said to reporters that “When we scored the third goal I said exactly that to him. I said, ‘look, Cristiano, I understand that you are still ambitious and you want to score yourself.

“Maybe in a couple of years when you are a head coach yourself and hopefully you’ll make the same decision, be in the same role that I was in today after 75 minutes.

“For the future, it’s just important for any player that we win games, this is first.”

The German coach insists he will keep subbing Ronaldo in the good interest of the club.

“Having players like Marcus and Anthony Martial on the bench, why should I not make use of that? That’s why I would always do it [Sub off Ronaldo] again in a situation like that,” Rangnick reiterated.