Ronaldo was dissatisfied with Brentford's substitution in the league, and Manchester United caretaker coach Ronnick responded again to the unhappy incident of C Ronaldo being replaced at a press conference on Friday, telling everyone not to make a fuss. Lonnick said that he summed up his previous experience of conceding points after leading Villa by two goals, so after winning 2:0 against Brentford, he wanted to strengthen his defense and stabilize the victory through substitutions, so he chose to replace Ronaldo.
On Wednesday, Manchester United won Brentford 3:1, and when the 71-minute lead was 2:0, Lonnick replaced Ronaldo and sent Maguire to strengthen the defense, but Ronaldo was very dissatisfied and displeased. At a press conference on Friday, Lonnick was pressed again, saying, "I don't think we need to make a fuss. I've already explained to him that even during the game, after we scored the 3rd goal, we communicated."
In the middle of the month, Manchester United visited Villa, once leading 2:0, but lost consecutive defeats in the 77th and 80th minutes, and was finally forced to draw 2-2 by the opponent.
"I think it's normal for a player like Cristiano Ronaldo to not like to be replaced. His reaction was a little agitated, but I didn't feel anything wrong. The manager's job is to help the team win. After our previous experience at Villa Park (being tied 2-2 with a two-goal lead), it was clear that we were going to do better this time. We did get better, and the only question is, who are we going to replace?"
While replacing Ronaldo with Maguire, Lonnick also replaced Aoki with Rashford, both to strengthen the defensive manpower and inject a fast new blood into the attack. Longnick continued: "Of course Cristiano Ronaldo is a prolific goalscorer and the players want to play more time and try to score goals. He also asked, 'Why me?' Why not swap out one of the young players?' The answer to the question came in 5 minutes after he was swapped out and one of the young players helped us score the third goal."
"Or if Ronaldo is on the floor, it may be him who scores the third goal, but football doesn't have a if, the key is to make a decision at the right time."
Lonnick later talked about his coaching experience, arguing that Cristiano Ronaldo's dissatisfaction was just a normal reaction of an attacking player, because the striker always wanted to stay on the field and try to score. He said: "I've coached a lot of players, maybe they're not as famous as Cristiano Ronaldo, but I've taught Huntelaer and so on when I was younger."
"So I understand the behaviour of the attacking players and how they react to being replaced. But again, the most important thing is the team and the score. With where we are now, every game is very important and we want to make sure that we can get the most points in every game, that's the most important thing."
"It doesn't matter who it is, whether it's Ronaldo or Cavani, or B Fee, or someone else." B Fee du tried to be replaced early, and just a few weeks ago, he was unhappy. However, these decisions are based on the best interests of the team."
Talking about whether C Ronaldo will play against West Ham at the weekend, Lonnick revealed that C Ronaldo's neck is unwell and the battle is doubtful. He said: "Ronaldo is a question mark for the time being, because he has a problem with his neck. He was governed for two to three hours yesterday (Thursday) and we'll see how he feels today."