Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has conceded that the situation surrounding Ralf Rangnick's interim reign as Red Devils boss has not been easy for anyone involved.
Rangnick was appointed in early December of last year in the wake of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking, but the German is only at the helm until the end of the current campaign as his appointment was purely an interim one to steady the ship. Whether he has actually done that is up for debate, given there still seems to be new reports of unrest at Old Trafford with each passing week.
The recent comments from Matic appear to suggest the uncertainty over United's managerial situation has contributed to some of the struggles on the pitch in recent weeks. "It's not easy when players think that the manager is only here for a few months," the Serbian explained.
"It's not easy for him. But we are all professionals, we need to follow his ideas because it's good for him, good for us and good for the club.
"For the players, sometimes, if you know the manager is not here for the next season, it's not easy. When you change manager, every new manager needs some time to work on it and we are trying to do exactly what he wants from us. In some games we did that very well, in some games not that great."
Matic's latest comments come just days after he gave a bleak insight into what the mood around the dressing room is like. "The atmosphere? It depends on results. Of course, when you have good results the atmosphere is much better and everyone is happy," he told talkSPORT.
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"As you know, we are not in the best position in the league and the atmosphere is not fantastic but we have to stay positive and believe until the end because we want to finish in that top-four.
"The atmosphere in our dressing room will depend on that. If we finish top-four then it will be good for us, everyone will be… I cannot say happy, but satisfied. If we don't make that, it will be a very sad dressing room."
United currently sit sixth in the Premier League table and while Rangnick has overseen an upturn in results in comparison to his predecessor, the Red Devils still look unlikely to secure Champions League qualification for next season given they are four points adrift off fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more.
It marks an incredible demise from how high ambitions were before a ball had been kicked this term, when Matic and co. were touted with a first title tilt for a number of years.
