Sir Alex Ferguson believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a huge mistake by not starting Cristiano Ronaldo against Everton.
Ronaldo, who left Juventus over the summer to return to Manchester United, was named on the club’s bench on Saturday for the visit of Everton.
The 36-year-old has made an superb start to his second spell in Manchester – scoring five goals in five games before the game – but Solskjaer said he wanted to ‘freshen’ his team up and give Ronaldo a rest after the Champions League win over Villarreal.
- Man Utd board’s stance on Solskjaer amid calls to sack manager
- Owen Hargreaves says Ferguson would drop Fred for a month after Everton draw
- Ferdinand reveals what furious Ronaldo told Man Utd team-mates after Everton equaliser
The change appeared to work, with Antony Martial making the most of a rare start to put United ahead before half-time, but the Toffees responded well after the break and equalised through Andros Townsend.
Ronaldo came on as a sub in the second half– eight minutes before Everton’s equaliser – but struggled to make any impact before storming down the tunnel after the final whistle.
Solskjaer defended his decision to bench Ronaldo after the draw but Ferguson appears to disagree with the United manager, telling MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov that ‘you should always start your best players’.
Ferguson was filmed talking to Khabib at the club’s home ground Old Trafford after Saturday’s 1-1 draw and said: ‘But I also think that they [Everton] saw Ronaldo wasn’t playing…’
Khabib replied: ‘Yeah, but he came on in the second half…’ And the Red devils legend responded: ‘I know but you should always start with your best players.’
They have enjoyed a good start to the new campaign but results have fallen away in recent weeks, with the club already out of the EFL Cup and failing to get a win over West Ham, Aston Villa and Everton at home.
Asked whether he regretted his decision to start Ronaldo on the bench against Everton, Solskjaer said: ‘No! ‘You make decisions throughout a long, long season and you have to manage the players workload and the decision for me was the correct one.
‘Anthony Martial came in and did well, scored a good goal. Edinson needed minutes, he got an hour and could have had a goal. It was a great cross and good chance for him. We have to make those decisions at times.’
