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Ralf Rangnick has revealed that the Premier League's three-substitution rule was the border that prevented a potential Old Trafford farewell for Jesse Lingard during Manchester United's win over Brentford earlier this month.
The Red Devils picked up a morale-boosting win over the Bees to keep themselves on track for European football, with appearances for veteran stars like Juan Mata serving as a celebratory last lap at the Theatre of Dreams ahead of anticipated moves.
But there was no such minutes for Lingard, who is expected to also depart this summer, leading to the player's brother to slam the club as "classless" - but now, Rangnick has laid out his reasons for the England international's absence and defended his selection.
Why did Rangnick not select Lingard?
"I think in the last couple of weeks under my tenure he has played far more games than he used to before I came," Rangnick stated. "On game day against Chelsea, he asked me to release him from the game and to also release him from the training session the following day for personal family reasons. I also allowed him to do that.
"With only three subs, unfortunately, I had to take a decision between bringing on Edinson Cavani or Jesse Lingard, or even the young Alejandro Garnacho, whom I would have loved to have brought on and given a chance after going 3-0 up with 15 minutes to play.
"Had I not brought on someone, maybe someone else might have posted it was classless not to bring on Edinson Cavani or somebody else might have posted 'why didn't the manager bring on the young Alejandro Garnacho?' You have to take a decision and this will not be to the liking of everybody, this is also part of the game."
What did Rangnick say on the furore?
Elsewhere, the German reiterated tht while he does not have an online presence, he tends to try and ignore the hullaballoo that can surround matter inflamed by virtual discourse.
"To be honest, I'm not reading a lot," he added. "I've not had the time in the last six months to read, I'm not Instagram, as you know, I'm not on Facebook, I'm not engaged in those areas.
"My focus has always been here, with my coaching staff, to develop the team. In those days with social media, there is always somebody posting something and it's important for us at the club not to take too much notice of that. Unless it's the player himself, it might be a different story."