Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick has cleared up the confusion surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani‘s injuries following the defeat to Manchester City.
The experienced pair were absent for the 4-1 defeat and their presence was certainly sorely missed.
Ralf Rangnick on Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury: “I have to believe my medical department”, he told @DiscoMirror 🔴 #MUFC
“Our doctor came to see me Friday morning before training and said Cristiano could not train because of some problems with his hip flexor and the same Saturday”. pic.twitter.com/S9PVvKDOu7
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 6, 2022
Rangnick: "Edi trained in the last three days, he trained well, but he still felt after yesterday afternoon that he's not fit to play. As a manager I cannot force a player to play if he doesn’t feel fit enough and well enough to play."
— Charlotte Duncker (@CharDuncker) March 6, 2022
Ronaldo was ruled out by a hip flexor injury and so his situation appeared to be rather straightforward.
However, some people conspired and claimed he wasn’t actually injured and was left out by Rangnick because he had no role in the game plan.
The German boss has cleared up that that’s not true and insisted his medical department are the ones who ruled Ronaldo out and not the player himself or the manager.
Cavani’s situation is perhaps the more infuriating one for fans who have felt let down by the player all season.
The Uruguayan striker has been absent far too often to be of use for United and some have claimed the club would have been better off letting him leave in January.
Rangnick has no real reason to protect the players and so it’s no surprise he was open about why Cavani wasn’t a part of the team.
The former PSG man may be concerned over his proneness to injury and so doesn’t want to risk making anything worse.
This could be particularly true given how there’s not much time left to the summer transfer window too.