Ole Gunnar Solskjær has hinted that he dismissed Cristiano Ronaldo's request to play for Manchester United in last night's Carabao Cup loss to West Ham.
Speaking after the match, The Red Devils' boss claimed that his Portuguese superstar wanted to be a part of the squad for the encounter, a plea that wasn't to his manager's liking.
"Cristiano has come in and made a difference already," the Norwegian told Sky Sports, as quoted by The Mirror . "He wants to play as much as possible but I don't think it is possible.
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If you are going to be successful at the end, you need the whole squad and minutes to be shared out. (It's a) risk making so many changes but we have played some games behind closed doors and hopefully we find the rhythm."
The United manager has come under fire following last night's defeat, with many asking questions of the team he selected, which featured the likes of Donny van de Beek, Diego Dalot and Victor Lindelöf. However, Solskjaer said the defeat will benefit his squad in the long term, as it has given many fringe players some vital minutes.
"We've got to the semi-finals in the last two years and it's a competition we've got tradition for to give players minutes because we need to think about the bigger picture," he told the club's official website. "Today, we made that decision and some of them will definitely come out stronger for it because they've now got 90 minutes under the belt and are ready for the league, the Champions League and the FA Cup when that starts.
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We had a poor start, then some good bits and then towards the end when we went gung ho, we opened ourselves up and of course they could have scored a few more. I thought the boys gave it a real good go, worked hard and we ended up with 27 shots which is quite remarkable. Maybe you could see some players needing minutes but that's natural."
Next up for the joint Premier League leaders is a clash with Aston Villa at Old Trafford, where you would think the high-flying Ronaldo will return to the fold.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Carabao Cup, Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Cristiano Ronaldo