Ralf Rangnick believes some of Manchester United's players cannot handle the pressure of playing for the club.
But United's interim boss said he has “no regrets” at taking the job on a short-term basis, despite their shocking loss of form under him.
Rangnick has won just nine of his 22 games in charge and only three of his last 12, as United have slumped to seventh place, six points adrift in the race for fourth place. That now looks beyond United, who have seven games to play, with Rangnick admitting some of the current squad simply cannot cope with the expectation and focus on them.
Rangnick said: “I don’t know if this was the case, but it might be with one or two or three of our players. It seems to be that the level of expectation is high and some of the players seem to struggle with their own performance with that. But, again, there are no alibis and no excuses, we have to be ready to cope and deal with it. For tomorrow I’m sure, I’m convinced and very positive that all the players know about this. It's a test of character and mentality.
“But we have to show it on the pitch. Whatever speculation we have as to what I think or you think was the reason behind the performance at Everton, we have to be able, in our home, to beat a team like Norwich and show the best possible performance. But the truth and reality is on the pitch. We owe it to ourselves and our supporters and we owe that to the whole club. It’s up to the players to show that they're still ambitious and that they want to finish the season on the highest and best possible note.”
United's abject 1-0 defeat at Everton last weekend was a new low in a crisis-hit season, one that will see the club's trophy drought stretch to five years. Despite United's sharp decline since he took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November, one that has seen them exit the FA Cup, Champions League and fall away from the top-four, Rangnick, 63, said he had no regrets at taking on the job.
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“No regrets whatsoever,” said Rangnick. “I would do it over and over again. I don’t regret that at all. “As a manager, you always have to question and ask yourself what you could have done better, what if I could have played with a different formation in certain games, if a substitution could have been done earlier. This is what always happens, we always ask ourselves questions about what we could have done better.
“I think we're all aware it’s not an easy squad and the whole situation wasn't easy, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here and Ole would probably still be here. I think we've shown in the past couple of months we were able to raise the level, but not in the sustainable way I would have wished. That’s the reason I’m not happy at all with what we’ve done and achieved so far.”
Rangnick also refused to speak about Erik ten Hag - despite the Dutchman's imminent appointment as Manchester United boss. Ajax boss Ten Hag is set to be confirmed as United's fifth permanent boss since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Rangnick was asked for his view on ten Hag's appointment but refused to open up about the 52-year-old. Rangnick added: "I don't know if it's a done deal and my reply is the same - my focus is on the game against Norwich and to prepare the team on a higher level for the game."
