Ralf Rangnick has been told that the problems at Manchester United are not his fault with a rival Premier League boss suggesting that it is the players who are to blame.
Speaking ahead of the two side’s clash in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Monday evening, Brentford boss Thomas Frank has defended his counterpart at United. Rangnick has been unable to transform United – who will end the season trophyless and are currently languishing in sixth.
There is hope for the future as the club last week confirmed the appointment of Ajax boss Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman met with United bosses last month to talk about becoming their new manager on a permanent basis and will replace Rangnick at the end of the current campaign.
Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the post in November but he has been unable to arrest the club’s long-term slump in form. Not only will they miss out on any trophies this season, but will not qualify for next season’s Champions League barring a shock final few weeks of combinations of results.
Brentford boss Frank said of United’s situation: “The club is definitely one of the biggest in world football, if not the biggest club. The team are obviously struggling in terms of their ambitions – I do not think that is any secret and I can say that without being disrespectful.
“They have had a tough season and that is always not good, and when you need to sack a manager it is because something is not right. And maybe I am a little bit biased, but a lot of the times it maybe is not the manager!
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“In terms of their own expectations they wanted to be higher and expected to be higher. They are on paper one of the best offensive group of players: Ronaldo, Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford. I think those four are among the best in the league on their best day.”
Speaking of the appointment of Ten Hag, Sky Sports pundit and former United captain Roy Keane analysed: “I think it is a good appointment, with all the speculation it has been on the cards for the last few months and I think the club will be glad just to get the deal done. He can start looking at the club, albeit from the background because he does not start until July.
“He has got a solid CV, a good reputation but the proof is in the pudding and we will see what he is like when he is in job and whether he can get Manchester United back to where they need to be.”
Another Sky Sports pundit and former United stalwart, Gary Neville added: “Obviously he will not be able to change everything in one transfer window. I think if you look at the stats compared to Ajax’s and you were in the Manchester United dressing room, you would be a little bit worried because, Ralf Ragnick came here as a pressing guru, and he has not been able to get that out of this group of players. In fact, he has referred to them about their lack of physicality in recent interviews over the last few weeks, and if Erik Ten Hag is going to be brutal like Jurgen Klopp was when he got rid of Christian Benteke at Liverpool or when Pep Guardiola got rid of Joe Hart at Manchester City.”
