Why did Ten Hag drop Garnacho? Was it for ‘supporting’ Cristiano Ronaldo?

Erik Ten Hag left Alejandro Garnacho on the bench in Manchester United’s return to Premier League action after the international break. There had been some talk that the reason behind this decision was due to the Spanish-Argentine having liked comments made by Cristiano Ronaldo criticizing the Dutch manager.

Garnacho exclusion explained

Garnacho did, however, come on in the second half – with United already two goals ahead – and officially, the club has stated that his absence from the starting lineup was due to “technical/tactical reasons.”

And wouldn’t you believe it, in the 96th minute he added the third for United.

Former Red Devils star Ronaldo’s comment on social media stated that everything at Manchester United “had to be rebuilt” and that Ten Hag couldn’t have the mentality of “we can’t compete for titles.” This caught the attention of Garnacho, who liked the post, but it reportedly did not sit well with his coach.

This season has not started as Garnacho had hoped, until the dying minutes today, of course. He was on the bench for the first two Premier League matches and was substituted with 20 minutes left in the painful 3-0 defeat against Liverpool. His international break with Argentina in September also saw limited action, as he did not play against Colombia and only featured for 11 minutes against Chile. In glimpses, however, he has shown that he could be one of United’s main men, this season and for a while.