Will Manchester United leave Ronaldo out for the derby? Paul Merson on United’s strategy
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Paul Merson thinks that Manchester United should drop captain Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo for Sunday’s derby against Manchester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo has lacked his goal-scoring touch for some time now and could only score once in his last ten matches with Manchester United. Harry Maguire was left out of the starting XI for the 0-0 draw against Watford, and recent reports have claimed some United players are privately questioning his continued selection in the side.
Paul Merson speaking on Soccer Saturday :
“If the reports are accurate [of players wanting Maguire dropped], that’s not nice because Maguire is a top bloke and a good professional who looks after the players. He’s not really worried about himself and he’s a team player.
“But for me, I don’t think he plays in this game and I’d also play [Marcus] Rashford and [Anthony] Elanga. If they’ve got any chance of winning this game, they have to play on the counter-attack with plenty of pace, skill and energy.
“Personally, I’d leave Ronaldo out of this game. Against Watford, they dominated the game and had something like 80 per cent possession, but they’re not going to have the ball as much against City.
“How many times are they going to be in City’s half dominating the ball? If you’re John Stones or Aymeric Laporte, they would rather play against Ronaldo than mark someone like Rashford. They don’t want to play up against pace.”
Manchester City will want to maintain the 3-point lead over Liverpool with a win against United.
Manchester United manager on Harry Maguire
Ralf Rangnick however admitted a few weeks earlier that Harry Maguire will be the Manchester United captain as long as he is there.
Talking about the club’s captaincy, he said, “This is absolutely nonsense – I’ve never spoken with players about captaincy.”
“This has never been an issue for me, it’s me who decides who is captain and therefore there is no reason for me to speak about that with any other person. Harry Maguire is our captain and he will stay our captain until the end of the season.”
Harry Maguire was handed over the captaincy of the club by Manchester United’s former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about two years ago, however recent reports in the media suggested that his authority has been undermined by 37-year-old Ronaldo’s return.
Also read: Tim Sherwood believes Ralf Rangnick is no longer a contender to manage Manchester United
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Sandipan Roy
(207 Articles Published)