December 30, (THEWILL) – Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has said that centre-backs Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane need to improve their game, but has argued that they are not completely to blame for the team’s recent woes.
Varane made a costly blunder in the recent 1-1 tie with Newcastle United, during which Maguire was repeatedly criticised by supporters for some unconvincing moments, after missing 10 games with a hamstring injury.
Rangnick did everything he could to protect his defenders from criticism ahead of Thursday’s match against Burnley.
“I mean, I don’t think I mean, Raphael hasn’t played for the last five or six weeks and even before the Tottenham game, he was injured,” he began.
“So in total in the last three months, he hasn’t played that many games. Yes, he made a mistake before the first goal that we conceded. But apart from that, I think he was OK. I wouldn’t say that he was outstanding, and the same with Harry, but they did OK.
“Our problem was, again, that we allowed too many transitional moments, and this is not only a problem of the centre-backs, it’s a problem of the whole team that it starts up front. And you can also speak about the role of the number 10 in that kind of formation.
“So I don’t think it makes sense to speak about the individual performance of players. We need to get better as a team.”
Rangnick has yet to lose a game in the Premier League, although his results have not been spectacular. United won 1-0 over Crystal Palace and Norwich before being outplayed in a 0-0 draw against Newcastle.
The Red Devils’ boss acknowledged that work had been delayed, but argued that COVID-19 had had a role in the progress.
“But in order to do that, you need to be able to train. And as you know, we had to close Carrington for four days. Before that, we had eight or nine field players in training directly after the Norwich game and they only came back in small bits and pieces.
“So in the last three days, we were almost back to full strength with regard to the size of the squad, but we couldn’t do that much in training.
“On the other hand, in those two or three training sessions, the team looked good… It was, in Monday’s game, a negative surprise the way that we played with regard to game speed, tempo and physicality.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
