A bad day for Manchester United at Carrow Road
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked by Manchester United in November 2021 there still seems to be problems at the club. Ralf Rangnick was appointed as Interim manager until the end of the 2021/2022 Premier League season in December 2021. Ralf Rangnick has struggled since been appointed as Manchester United manager. Ralf Rangnick has being very successful in the German Bundesliga but it’s a different challenge being a manager in the Premier League.
Ralf Rangnick’s first match as Manchester United boss was against Crystal Palace on Sunday 5th of December 2021. In this game Manchester United made an attempt to press as a team and were hard to break down. Manchester United won this match one nil. This performance was an improvement especially without the ball but it needed to be backed up in a few games. Manchester United fans got sidetracked with this result and thought that Ralf Rangnick was the saviour for them. Ralf Rangnick will need to get more performances similar to this one if Manchester United want to finish in the top four this season in the Premier League.
Ralf Rangnick second match as Manchester United in the Premier League was a trip to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City on Saturday 11th of December2021. Manchester United fans were excited going into this game due to improvement in other games but this game wasn’t the case. Manchester United were back to their old self’s with not pressing the opposition and not working hard enough as a team. Norwich City created plenty of chances in this game and only for David De Gea in goal making world class saves Manchester United would of being beaten. If your goalkeeper David De Gea is getting Man Of The Match on a regular basis it says how bad the players played in front of you. This game was a reality check for Ralf Rangnick because he didn’t realise how big of a job that he has on his hands at Manchester United. If you nearly get beaten against the lowest team in the Premier League that says you are playing poorly.
After Manchester United played Norwich City there was a Covid-19 outbreak at Carrington which meant the training ground was closed for four days. This meant that Manchester United Premier League games against both Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion were postponed. This was another headache for Ralf Rangnick as Manchester United boss. After having a enforced sixteen day break they faced Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday 27th of December 2021. It was interesting to see if Manchester United were fresh or rusty. Unfortunately it was the latter as Manchester United were cut open numerous of times especially early on in this match. Manchester United went one nil down on the seventh minute as Alan Saint-Maximin scored a shot being off balance. As the first half went on Alan Saint-Maximin gave Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane problems with his lighting pace. Manchester United found it hard to create chances in the first half and went into half time behind. You think that Ralf Rangnick would say something to his players at half time before sending them back out for the second half. A similar theme continued in the second half but Manchester United scored a equaliser on the seventieth minute as Edinson CAvani scored from close range. After Manchester United scored a equaliser you would think that Manchester United would go onto win this match but this wasn’t the case. Newcastle created some great chances and it took a wonder save from David De Gea from Joelinton late on to give Manchester United a draw. This result papered the craic’s from a poor performance. Sky Sports expert Gary Neville said on Monday Night Football that Portuguese duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were more focused whinging at the referee than playing the match. These two players are supposed to be Manchester United’s best players but their performance in this game was unacceptable.
Ralf Rangnick’s next Premier League match was against Burnley on Thursday 30th of December 2021. Manchester United started the match awful and Burnley should off being ahead after five minutes with Burnley striker Chris Wood missing a great chance. Manchester United build up a three-nil lead with goals from Scott Mc Tominay, an own goal and Cristiano Ronaldo but Burnley still looked dangerous on the counter attack. Aaron Lennon made it 3-1 before half time. This goal made it an interesting second half and Manchester United sat back and invited Burnley onto them. It was a nervous performance by Manchester United in the second half and were lucky not to concede any more goals especially when Burnley defender Erik Pieters missed a great chance late on. You would think that a 3-1 is a comfortable win but not in this case as Manchester United struggled to victory.
Manchester United first Premier League game of 2022 was against Wolverhampton Wanders on Monday 3rd of January 2022. Ralf Rangnick picked Nemanja Matic ahead of Fred in midfield for this game. In the first half Wolverhampton Wanders created numerous of chances and should of being two goals to the good at half time. Not many teams play 4-4-2 formation anymore and this is strange why Ralf Rangnick sticks with this formation as Manchester United get out run in midfield regularly. Manchester United created a couple of chances in the second half when they brought on Bruno Fernandes but a beautiful finish by Joao Moutinho gave Wolverhampton Wanders a well-deserved win at Old Trafford.
Manchester United last few performances were shocking and are now in seventh position in the Premier League. Manchester United are only four points off fourth position but their performances need a serious improvement if they want to finish in the top four this season. The attitude and work rate of Manchester United’s players lately is terrible and need more motivation from the coaching staff at Manchester United because their lack of work rate and ambition to close players down is unacceptable. Manchester United play as a group of individuals with having so many big egos in the squad but only walking around when they loose possession is awful. A lot of things need to change if Manchester United want to finish in the top four of the Premier League on a regular basis. If they don’t consider these changes it could be a long road back for one of the most successful teams in England.
https://backpagefootball.com/manchester-uniteds-failures-continue-despite-changing-of-the-guard/130274/