Ralf Rangnick has once again risked incurring the wrath of the Manchester United dressing room, claiming his players need to toughen up if they are to become title challengers again.
The interim boss ripped into his players for what he saw as a lack of physicality, as their hopes of securing a top-four finish were dampened by a drab home draw with Leicester City.
“What was obvious in some parts of the game is that we were second best with regards to physicality,” said Rangnick.
“It was about one-on-one duels. Whenever there was body contact, we were too often second-best and that is something we have to get better at for the rest of this season, but even more so for next season. I just felt we could have been more dynamic, more physical, more aggressive, but we weren’t in those moments.
“It has to be a bit in the DNA of a player, to be honest. It's difficult to change, shall I say, a technically great player into a physical, aggressive player. We have a lot of people who are technical players.”
And it certainly isn’t the first time that the often forthright Rangnick has reportedly rubbed his players up the wrong way, with a litany of incidents which are said to have annoyed the under-performing stars. Here Mirror Football takes a look at Rangnick’s wranglings since being named manager at the back end of last year.
Moving training
It didn’t take long for Rangnick to get on the wrong side of his new charges. After all, having spent three years under the bosom of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, any changes to the holiday spa that was Carrington would likely prove unpopular.
Mirror Football discovered that players were unhappy when the German tactician immediately switched the time of training sessions from the morning to the afternoon. It was a switch which was reportedly met with “some resistance”.
Giving out homework
HAVE YOUR SAY! Who should Man Utd hire as their next permanent manager? Let us know in the comments
But it wasn’t just the interruption of their afternoon siesta which got on the wick of United players. Rangnick was also questioned for implementing the idea of players needing to complete homework once sessions had finished.
Looking to bring in more detailed analysis, the 63-year-old tailored work for each player to complete, looking at video analysis of recent performances. A United source said: "This involves hours and hours of video footage to watch as homework.
"It's based on their own performances, but includes advice on how to improve. Some of the players have accepted it, but others are less than impressed."
Unimpressed with training
And if moving the sessions and extra homework wasn’t enough, United players were also left questioning the actual training drills themselves. ESPN reported that Rangnick’s ‘old-fashioned’ session were frustrating players.
There was also confusion that assistant Chris Armas, who had never coached outside of North America before joining Rangnick, was actually leading the sessions. Armas was sacked by Toronto in his previous job and United’s array of superstars were unimpressed by his methods, comparing the American to sitcom character Ted Lasso.
Trying to force the 4-2-2-2 formation
Rangnick made no secret that he wanted to play in a certain shape when replacing Solskjaer, whether his players suited the formation or not. United laboured in the 4-2-2-2 with Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho unable to thrive in the system.
It took until the middle of January for finally accept that he had got it wrong, but that wasn’t swift enough for some with Rangnick admitting his squad suiting the 4-3-3 his predecessor had nearly always adopted. "We have now decided to play a 4-3-3 like we did against Aston Villa, with one holding six, two eights and three offensive players,” he explained.
"Of course, in my opinion, this formation has to fit to the players you have available," Rangnick added. "In the long term, it would be good to have one formation or one style of play."
Subbing off Ronaldo at Brentford
Cristiano Ronaldo ’s return to Old Trafford was supposed to be the final piece in the jigsaw, but for both Solskjaer and Rangnick he has often been the source of major debate. Solskjaer was criticised for leaving him out against Everton, something his successor has continued to do on occasion.
In the six games Ronaldo hasn’t started this season, United haven’t won a single of those, but it was perhaps a game he started where we saw his frustrations come closest to boiling over. After being withdrawn by Rangnick in the second half of the win over Brentford in January, the 37-year-old was visibly furious, chuntering to himself and shaking his head in the away dugout.
Manager and player held lengthy discussions in the minutes following his substitution and although that killed the immediate fury, seeds of discontentment were sown.
Lingard row over “time off”
Jesse Lingard has endured an extremely difficult season, having returned to his boyhood club with the promise that his form at West Ham would change his fortunes. That promise has never materialised and he has remained a peripheral figure under Solskjaer first and then Rangnick.
He had hoped to cut short his final season at United with a move away in January only for Rangnick to block the move and keep him for the remainder of the campaign. Shortly after the window was closed, Linhgard was left out of the FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough, with Rangnick claiming he asked for some time off to clear his mind.
Lingard quickly snapped back however with his own version of events: “The club advised me to have time off due to personal reasons! But my headspace is clear and I’ll always be professional when called upon and give 100 percent.”
Dropping Pogba against Atletico
The Champions League last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid was the final chance for United to salvage something from this season. And after drawing in the Spanish capital, the Red Devils had a real chance of progression.
They would ultimately lose 1-0, but it was the selection of Fred and Scott McTominay which had the potential to upset the dressing room. Reports from Italy claimed Paul Pogba was ‘furious’ and that the snub would be the deciding factor on the Frenchman ultimately leaving United at the end of the season.
