Cristiano Ronaldo is probably experiencing the hardest season of his entire football career. The negative highlight was the recent 3-6 loss to Manchester City, where CR7 spent the entire season on the bench. A farewell to Manchester United in winter is now considered a likely scenario. Now coach Erik ten Hag has commented on the mood of the superstar.

Erik ten Hag surprised last weekend by saying that he didn't replace Ronaldo against the Skyblues out of respect for his career. The United coach then had to listen to a lot of ridicule and opposition. The player himself didn't like his stay at the bank at all, which the coach now openly admitted. "He's not happy that he didn't play on Sunday. Of course he wants to play and is pissed off when he doesn't play," the coach said. However, Ten Hag did not rule out that he would still fall back on the veteran star in the coming weeks. "Cristiano is absolutely competitive, he's not happy when he's not playing, but he trains well, is in a good mood, motivated and does his best," said the Dutchman.

The coach also assured that Ronaldo's disregard has nothing to do with "the future or what happens in January" and reiterated that he is "happy, training well and enjoying training". Of course, it is a bit difficult to believe all of this. The question hasn't really been answered yet as to whether Ronaldo should and should be allowed to leave in the winter or not. The next few games will show whether the coach is actually still relying on the services of the Portuguese. For the Europa League game on Thursday at Nicosia, CR7 is at least in the squad. Ten Hag announced that he would play "with the best team" after the "setback" against Manchester City. It will be interesting to see if Cristiano Ronaldo gets his chance in the unloved Europa League.

This article was originally published on 90min.com as Erik ten Hag on Cristiano Ronaldo: "Not happy he didn't play".