Three reasons Cristiano Ronaldo has done Manchester United a favour

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Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended from first team set up at Manchester United this weekend after his strop against Tottenham.

Ronaldo has been rightly left out of the squad by Erik ten Hag for the Chelsea game, and while this all seems like an unnecessary distraction, there are positives too.

Here is a look at three reasons why Ronaldo has inadvertently done United a favour…

Stops the win over Tottenham being over-hyped

Ronaldo’s actions certainly overshadowed Manchester United’s excellent win over Tottenham. It was the best performance of Erik ten Hag’s reign.

But it also stops everybody getting too carried away. Rather than focus on hailing Ten Hag’s brilliance and United’s improvement, the focus is on Ronaldo.

While this seems unfair, it prevents supporters and the media getting too swept up in the win over Spurs, ahead of a big game against Chelsea where United could easily come unstuck.

United were outstanding against Tottenham. But it’s also important to recognise Antonio Conte’s side are a flawed team, who have folded over against other top Premier League sides this season too.

It would have been easy to over hype United’s victory midweek. Ronaldo has actually provided a useful distraction against this.

Underlines Ten Hag’s authority

Ronaldo is providing an early test to the authority of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and the boss has dealt with it superbly.

Ten Hag has shown he is the boss, and that he won’t give in to player power. If Ronaldo can’t sway him, then the rest of the squad have no chance.

If the manager had let Ronaldo’s actions go, he would have been seen as a soft touch by his players. Instead he has used the situation to underline his authority.

Ten Hag has dealt with the situation just like Sir Alex Ferguson would have done, and he will have earned the respect of the Manchester United squad for the way he has handled it. The whole situation will bring United’s squad closer together.

Manchester United now have to focus on a replacement

Manchester United knew in the summer that Cristiano Ronaldo would need to be replaced if he left. In the end this was one deal saved for another window.

United’s preference would be to do business next summer, but Ronaldo is going to need replacing sooner rather than later. It is increasingly hard to see how he lasts the season.

Ronaldo’s future will become a big distraction in January again, just when the games resume. United could do without this.

So it is important Manchester United step up plans to replace the forward. There are several options the club could already be looking at.

Getting Ronaldo’s wages off the club’s salary bill will free up funds for a new addition and a January signing could make a big difference to how United finish the season.