Erik ten Hag says he did not want to disrespect Cristiano Ronaldo by bringing him on in the second half of Manchester United’s 6-3 defeat to Manchester City.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks as Guardiola’s side ran out comfortable winners at the Etihad.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, started the game as a substitute but was left on the bench for the game, while Anthony Martial replaced Marcus Rashford with 31 minutes left and went on to score two goals.
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Asked if he now considers Ronaldo as his third-choice striker after United’s defeat to City, Ten Hag replied: ‘I wouldn’t bring him in out of respect for Cristiano, for his big career.
‘And the other thing is there was the advantage I could bring Anthony Martial, he needs the minutes but I don’t want to point it out like that.’
Ten Hag also faced criticism over his decision to bench Casemiro for Scott McTominay for the derby against City.
But the United head coach insists Casemiro must win his place in the team ‘in a natural way’.
When asked if Casemiro should be starting key matches ahead of McTominay, Ten Hag replied: ‘On the day we signed him [Casemiro] we started to win.
‘It’s about the team, when the team’s doing really well it’s not against Casemiro it’s for, in this case, Scott McTominay because he performed great in the team, then we got into a run.
‘I’m sure he [Casemiro] will be important for us, and also in the short term he will find himself in the team, but he has to come in a natural way.’
