Former Manchester United coach explains why Anthony Martial was preferred over Cristiano Ronaldo

Benny McCarthy was a part of the backroom staff during Ronaldo’s latter period in his second spell.

by Vikram February 20, 2025

Image Credits: Man Utd

The return of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United did not go as planned, with his time at the club ending in controversy.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made a sensational return in 2021.

He joined from Juventus in a dramatic deadline-day move.

United had just finished second in the Premier League and added Ronaldo, Raphael Varane, and Jadon Sancho to strengthen their squad.

However, their campaign fell apart, leading to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal and Erik ten Hag’s arrival the following summer.

Ten Hag quickly made tactical changes, prioritising a mobile centre-forward who could press high up the pitch.

That led to Cristiano Ronaldo often being benched in favour of Anthony Martial when fit, with the Portuguese star ultimately forcing his exit after a public interview with Piers Morgan.

Benni McCarthy, who worked as an attacking coach under Ten Hag, has now explained why Martial was preferred.

“Erik wanted pressing from the start,” McCarthy told Ladbrokes at the launch of Gaffer of all Accas.

“And I think Ronaldo, when he came to United, in his early years at Real Madrid, he was able to do what Erik expected him to do.

“Like high press and then still have enough in the tank to get himself into positions to score.

“So Ronaldo was varying his game a lot, but it wasn’t how Erik wanted to play.

“So he felt that it just couldn’t work. Having Cris in the starting XI wouldn’t work with the way we wanted to play.

“That’s why Erik preferred Anthony Martial.”

Despite Ten Hag’s vision, Martial struggled with injuries.

Meanwhile replacements like Wout Weghorst and Rasmus Hojlund, found it difficult to provide the goals United needed.

McCarthy reflected on Ronaldo’s impact, adding:

“It’s just a real, real shame that it didn’t work out because I thought he still would have been great.

“And he was great for the players just for his mentality because that’s what you have to have when you play at United.

“You have to have the toughest mentality around because the amount of pressure, the amount of scrutiny that comes with being a United player.

“You need mettle, you know.

“Unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to because of Ronaldo’s age.”

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