"I can understand why he never started him" - Jamie Carragher on Michael Carrick's decision to not start Cristiano Ronaldo in Manchester United draw against Chelsea

Jamie Carragher has defended Manchester United boss Michael Carrick's decision not to start Cristiano Ronaldo against Chelsea. The Portuguese superstar came on as a substitute in the 64th minute as his side drew 1-1 against the league leaders.

Speaking after the game, Jamie Carragher spoke about Michael Carrick's decision not to start Cristiano Ronaldo in a game of such importance. The Liverpool legend was asked if rumored incoming manager Ralf Rangnick would ever risk not starting the Portuguese superstar in a game of this magnitude for Manchester United. He explained:

"No. I think Rangnick will not cause himself a problem initially coming into the club and putting Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, but I think this idea that Ronaldo has to start every game and play every minute of every game I don't think is right. Going away in big games I can understand why Michael Carrick never started him against Chelsea."

He continued:

"You saw when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought him off in Switzerland in an early group game, they were down to 10 men in the game, they brought him off and they lost the game because of a Jesse Lingard bad back pass. There was this big story that he brought Ronaldo off. He's 36. He then didn't start him against Everton and Ronaldo walked down the tunnel."

Jadon Sancho opened the scoring for Manchester United on the night after Chelsea midfielder Jorginho's massive blunder. However, the Italian made up for his error as he was on hand to slot in a penalty and salvage a point for the Blues. Cristiano Ronaldo replaced Sancho in the 64th minute of the game, but could not make any impact on the proceedings.

"Ronaldo's not the player he was" - Carragher on Cristiano Ronaldo after Manchester United's draw against Chelsea

Carragher has defended Carrick's decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo

Carragher also explained that it should not be a huge problem if Cristiano Ronaldo does not start every game for Manchester United. He said:

"Now, Ronaldo's not the player he was. He's still obviously delivering for Man Utd in terms of goals, but I don't think it should be a big story if Ronaldo doesn't start every game or at times comes off in a game of football."

Manchester United host Arsenal in the Premier League on Thursday— a game in which Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely start.