Manchester United boss Solskjaer responds to Ferguson's criticism on Ronaldo being benched

A few weeks back, Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came under heavy criticism when he decided not to start five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo in their 1-1 draw against Everton in the Premier League. One of those critics was former Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who was heard saying that Ronaldo should have started the match.

In a video that emerged on Twitter, Sir Alex Ferguson can be heard questioning Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team selection. As per the report in the Daily Mail, the video was filmed when Alex Ferguson was talking to the mixed martial arts champion and Manchester United fan Khabib Nurmagomedov in the directors’ lounge at Old Trafford after the Premier League match.

Sir Alex Ferguson can be heard saying, "But I also think that when they (Everton) saw that Ronaldo wasn't playing, it was a bit..." he is then interrupted by the Khabib Nurmagomedov, who pointed out: "He came on in the second half." Ferguson in his reply said, "I know, but you should always start with your best players."

Solskjaer responds to Ferguson's criticism on benching Ronaldo

Solskjaer has responded to the criticism he has received from his former coach, saying that he isn't fazed by what Ferguson said and that Ole himself used to disagree with Ferguson a lot. He then explained that Ronaldo was on the bench for Man United because he needs to rotate the players so that they can get rest and Ole also added that Ronaldo cannot play every single game that Red Devils play as he needs rest in between.

'I'm quite relaxed about it,” said Solskjaer in response to the former United manager's criticism. "I disagreed with the gaffer quite a few times and I told my wife quite a few times that I disagreed with him, but that never made headlines as a player."

Solskjaer added, "I'm sure Sir Alex knows that it doesn't bother me. We all want to see Cristiano. We all want to, because he's unique, he's different, he's had a career and everyone wants to come and watch him. But the plain fact of it is he cannot play every single game that we play, that's just physical nature, human nature."

"He knows how difficult this job is anyway, the gaffer. He didn't always play the same 11. He took some risks at times to rest Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney or David Beckham, the best players that we had. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't."

(Image: AP/@manchesterunited/Instagram)