sport news Man United looked FAR better without stroppy Cristiano Ronaldo in the superb ... trends now
There has been much debate and commentary over the best place for Cristiano Ronaldo under Erik ten Hag - and the Manchester United boss has found it.
Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time - and a United legend - but, on the evidence of recent weeks, he deserves to be on the bench.
His petulant, bratty showings of discontent, the latest coming in United's 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night, are doing nothing to change that feeling among the club's fanbase, many of whom have grown tired with his attitude and childish mannerisms.
Put simply, Ten Hag's team are better without him. The majority of supporters, at this stage, would rather see him on the sidelines than on the pitch.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford before the end of the match in United's 2-0 win over Spurs
United were superb in his absence as they produced their best display under Erik ten Hag
Ronaldo's team-mates are flourishing in his absence and it has got to the point where the Portuguese forward's mere presence in the starting XI is inadvertently putting the shackles on his United counterparts.
It is no coincidence the 37-year-old was an onlooker as United produced their best performance of the Ten Hag era. The Red Devils could have scored five or six were it not for the outstanding exploits of Hugo Lloris in the visitors' goal.
They were dynamic and fluid - words that cannot be associated with Ronaldo's own displays, a fact even Ten Hag himself alluded to in his post-match press conference.
'You saw at the moment Marcus came in, we were getting more dynamic in front. That's what we need today,' Ten Hag said.
'Against Tottenham you need good pressing, because from there you can create chances. Offensive-wise you need dynamic. That is what Marcus brings. You saw that against Newcastle in last 20 minutes, more space.
'To break the lines, but also to build up this game and in the end, we know we have a threat from the bench with Cristiano [Ronaldo] to finish the game.'
The statistics from United's tepid draw with Newcastle on Sunday, when Ronaldo started, compared with their superb victory over Tottenham tell a similar story.
United nearly doubled their expected goals, from 0.82 to 1.61, and had 28 shots on goal against Spurs - 13 more than they managed in the Newcastle stalemate.
Their shooting accuracy also drastically improved from 20 per cent on Sunday to around 52 per cent on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo's lack of pressing - a stick he
