Manchester United's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid is just the latest setback in a difficult season for interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
The German was unhappy with referee Slavko Vincic after the defeat, which came thanks to Renan Lodi's first-half goal at Old Trafford. However, Rangnick didn't avoid criticism himself, with former United midfielder Paul Scholes questioning the club's decision to hand him the job.
Rangnick remains in interim charge until the end of the season, and is expected to remain at the club in a consultancy role when a new head coach is identified and appointed. His time in the dugout has been anything but a success, though, with United in danger of missing out on Champions League football next season amid the 63-year-old's failure to deliver on his two main promises.
The squad is full of talent and has a great balance of youth and experience," Rangnick said upon being appointed by United. "All my efforts for the next six months will be on helping these players fulfil their potential, both individually and, most importantly, as a team."
While performances in the Premier League have improved in comparison to those towards the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's time at the helm, United remain outsiders for a top four finish. And on top of that, the noises coming from Old Trafford suggest the individual struggles of certain players have been compounded by a lack of team cohesion.
Harry Maguire is the latest to suffer a downturn in form under the interim boss, with pundit Jamie Carragher warning the United captain a failure to turn things around could threaten his future at the club. "He had a great summer with England in the Euros, getting to the final, but this season has been a disaster for him, it really has, and he almost needs to get to the end of the season and forget about football and get away," Carragher said.
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There have been a number of reports of player unhappiness at Old Trafford under Rangnick's watch, with a number of squad members tipped to leave at the end of the season, while on-field issues remain both domestically and in Europe. This has prompted questions from a number of directions, while former United man Scholes has named two others who he felt should have got the nod ahead of the interim bos.s
“I would have gone for Conte or Tuchel," Scholes told BT Sport. "It looks like one might be available at the end of the season. Those are two top class coaches that strike fear into players and win, which is the most important thing,
"United, with either one of those managers, would be much better off. I think they’re an elite coach away from challenging for trophies again. They’ve got a good squad with some top players, but for the last three or four years, they’ve not had an elite coach."
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