Ralf Rangnick and the players are a topic of discussion. This is because they are both to blame for Manchester United’s recent results. This article looks are who is more to blame for recent poor results.
The players are underperforming
Danny Mills has deflected blame from Ralf Rangnick urging Manchester United players to take responsibility for their poor performances.
Wolves aren’t the first team to cause Rangnick’s Manchester United some bother after Norwich and Newcastle posed his side problems. Two of the bottom three teams posing United problems is extremely concerning as both sides are battling relegation.
Even under Ole these players were underperforming. For example they lost 5-0 at home to Liverpool and 4-1 away to Watford. In the match against Liverpool they were 4-0 down at half-time. Surprisingly Manchester United had 4 shots on target compared to Liverpool’s 8. Liverpool had 64% possession while Manchester United had 36%.Surprisingly In the alarming loss against Watford, United had 62% possession whereas Watford had 38% possession. Watford had 7 shots on targets in contrast to United’s 3.
Rangnick has made some bad substitutions
In the 0-1 loss against Wolves Rangnick substituted Mason Greenwood for Bruno Fernandes. This was not a good decision as Greenwood was United’s best attacker on the day. In the post-match interview he gave this reasoning:
”It was 0-0. Bruno had a big chance to put us 1-0 ahead. Mason was good but I had to take someone off and didn’t want to take off one of the sixes. I had to decide whether to take off Edi or Mason so took off Mason.
The game showed we still have a lot of work to do. We had too many unforced errors.”
From this interview I can gather that he did not want to open up to much and concede a goal. Rangnick remained conservative because he doesn’t trust the defence yet. Rangnick should still have kept Greenwood on because he could have scored given he was playing well.
The dressing room is divided
Recent reports have suggested that 17 Manchester United players are unhappy. The players are unhappy for many reasons. Ronaldo’s influence is one reason they are unhappy. Lack of game time is another reason they are unhappy. Ronaldo being angry at teammates has nothing to do with Rangnick. Players not doing well in training has nothing to do with Rangnick. It is not a coincidence that certain players weren’t favoured by both Ole and Rangnick.
This isn’t guaranteed to be true and we’re just taking the word of the journalist that wrote the article. It could be something else as many players like Fred, Fernandes, Maguire and Rashford have come out and said all of these rumours are untrue.
Ralf Rangnick plays a formation that doesn’t suit Manchester United
Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 formation is not designed for possession and territorial dominance that Man Utd are forced to hold in the Premier League. Up against a compact and narrow opposition shape , the inside forwards tend to drift out wide to find space on the outside shape, leaving Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay (hardly the best vertical passers to begin with) with no central options. Manchester United are not a counter attacking team so playing like this is ineffective. The players that suit Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 formation are McTominay, Fred , Bruno and Pogba and any two strikers from Martial , Ronaldo, Rashford and Greenwood. Sancho will find it difficult to start in a 4-2-2-2 formation given he is a winger.
A 4-2-3-1 formation is more suitable for Manchester United. This is because Sancho and Rashford will be more likely to start.
Conclusion
The players are more to blame simply because they did not play for Ole and, now they aren’t playing for the interim manager. Rangnick should still get some blame because his formation doesn’t suit a gergenpressing style of play.
He should sometimes opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation as it would include Sancho and Rashford. Sancho needs to start regularly so he can score goals and get assists which will bring his confidence up. Sancho has not gotten off to a great start for someone who costs £72 million.
