Cristiano Ronaldo's reaction following his explosive refusal to come on against Tottenham has been a positive one.
The No.7 did his best to cast a dark shadow over Manchester United's galvanising win over Spurs last week when he stormed down the tunnel before the full-time whistle. That came, as it later transpired, after he had refused Erik ten Hag's request to be substituted on.
Ronaldo, clearly unhappy at being back on the bench again and with his dwindling playing time this season, allowed his frustrations to bubble over and acted out unprofessionally. That required punishment and Ten Hag handled the situation deftly, making it clear who is in charge as he laid down the law but doing so without throwing the Portuguese under the bus.
It only became known that Ronaldo refused to come the following day by which point a fine had been issued and the decision made not to include him in the squad to face Chelsea. A strong and sensible handling of the situation, regardless of how many United legends felt it was disrespectful.
After such a confrontation it would have been quite easy for Ronaldo to stand his ground even further, dig his heels in and make the situation truly untenable. There is precedence for this. In 2011, Carlos Teves refused Roberto Mancini's orders to come on for a Manchester City match against Bayern Munich.
Mancini was understandably furious - a million times more publically than Ten Hag - and similarly punished him with fines and solo training. In response, Tevez fled to Argentina and didn't return for months. But return he eventually did. Despite Maninci claiming 'he’s finished,' Tevez did come back and played a key role as City lifted the title.
If Tevez could come back from that, Ronaldo certainly can. There have been no statements of anger or discontent from the Ronaldo camp over the past week. Instead of pouring more fuel onto the fire, he issued an apology and has quietly gone about training ahead of a return to action and has vowed to show the "same commitment and dedication as always".
Speaking earlier this year, assistant manager Steve McClaren discussed how when he first worked at the club, if players broke rules set by the manager they would have to 'own it' and 'accept the consequences.'
"You've got to accept the rules, the conditions, you've got to accept the consequences if you do things wrong," told his son on their McClaren Performance podcast. "You've got to commit, you've got to be a class act. You've got to be a class act, especially in today's football.
"When I first went to Manchester United there was hardly any rules but what they did; they did the right things and if they didn't do the right things they owned it and they suffered the consequences and accepted the consequences. And I think if you've got those non-negotiables around that then you can't go wrong."
Ronaldo has followed those 'non-negotiables' and there's still time for him to redeem himself on the pitch.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com