Three Manchester United players must repay Erik ten Hag after major dressing room decision

Bruno Fernandes made sure to praise the whole of Manchester United's squad after Monday's win against Liverpool. Fernandes said the players who didn't make the starting XI had 'pushed' the players who did make the line up in training at Carrington.

Cristiano Ronaldo was surprisingly one of those players. Erik ten Hag named Ronaldo on the bench earlier this week and that was a brave decision, especially when considering United needed to avoid defeat at Old Trafford after humiliating performances against Brighton and Brentford. Ronaldo is a colossus in the dressing room and Ten Hag wasn't afraid to drop him to the bench.

Ronaldo has huge influence in the dressing room and he is idolised by the youngsters in the squad, which means it was important that did not express his disappointment at being named on the bench in an unprofessional manner. Ten Hag needed Ronaldo to lead by example and Fernandes' comments suggested he trained in exemplary fashion, if that was ever something to doubt.

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Although dropping Ronaldo was quite the statement in a game of such magnitude, the meticulous Ten Hag would argue it was a calculated gamble. That gamble obviously was attached with great risk, but Ten Hag has now emerged holding all of the aces.

Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga were picked to start in attack and that front three looked dangerous from the first whistle. Elanga should have scored within 10 minutes and his premature run to the corner suggested he thought he did.

Sancho made no mistake with a wonderfully composed finish five minutes later and it was the least that United deserved. They started the game with intent, energy and