Caretaker boss, Carrick explained why Ronaldo was dropped

By Dokubo - 28 November 2021

Manchester United Team Set-up.

Caretaker boss, Michael Carrick, picked a team that he felt should be able to nullify the flying Chelsea side. To some extent, it paid off for him. For Man United side who are trying to get back up from the poor state of form, they've been in for the last couple of weeks, taking a point away from Chelsea will serve as a real confidence booster for the players most especially.

Manchester United played with four at the back, three sitting midfielders and then Bruno Fernandes playing just behind Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. On paper, that's an offensive set-up, but it wasn't the case especially during the first 45 minutes. Manchester United players were happy to just let the Chelsea players have the ball and then wait to counter. That counter never happened in that first half. The full-backs of Man United offered no form of threat to The Blues.

Cristiano Ronaldo Benched.

Ronaldo was introduced in the 64th minute.

Carrick raised eyebrows in his team selection today as star forward Cristiano Ronaldo started the game on the substitutes bench. Understandably, this may have been to the manager's idea of wanting to press Chelsea, an aspect which is lacking in Ronaldo's game for very obvious reasons. Although he came and played 26 minutes, he never got the chance to affect the game as much as he would have loved to if he had started the game. Ronald had just 7 touches in the minutes he spent on the pitch. He made his frustration known as he stormed straight into the tunnel while his teammates saluted the travelling fans.

Final Thoughts.

In all, the Manchester United players can draw some pride and confidence from their performance today. They were solid at the back today as well. Congratulations to Jadon Sancho also for scoring his first Premier League goal. He now becomes the third-youngest Man United player to score against Chelsea at Stanford Bridge.