Erik ten Hag has jumped several levels in the esteem of Manchester United fans for his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo.

That's according to De Telegraaf's Marcel van der Kraan, who opined on Ten Hag's axing of Ronaldo for this weekend's clash with Chelsea after the Portuguese great left Old Trafford before the final whistle having been an unused sub in victory over Tottenham.

"You have a world star who has won the Ballon d'Or five times and you have a traditional Dutch football coach who is allowed to lead an English club for the first time in his life," writes Van der Kraan.

"It only took three months before the Manchester United supporters vomit out one (Ronaldo) and put the other (Ten Hag) on a pedestal. According to the majority of the supporters in Manchester, you have to have b***s to leave a world star sitting on the bench for almost ninety minutes.

"At the same time, Ten Hag has risen three levels in prestige.

"He has previously shown at Ajax that the team is always more important than the individual. The moment when he scolded Noa Lang live on television almost two years ago during a cup match against Telstar. It is still on the minds of many football fans."