Simon Jordan had his say over Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick's struggles as former Liverpool star Danny Murphy laid into the German coach.
Rangnick has struggled to get the very best out of the United squad since replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the Old Trafford dugout. The former RB Leipzig boss is renowned for his high-pressing, attacking football, but he hasn’t been able to implement those tactics with the Red Devils for one reason or another.
Despite the January transfer window providing a great chance for Rangnick to get the wheels in motion for the revival of United, the higher powers at the club refused to allow him to make any signings. Thus, he has attempted to alter his ways and steady the ship until his successor arrived.
But Murphy told talkSPORT that Rangick was hiding behind the fact that he couldn’t sign an 'aggressive' midfielder rather than taking responsibility for not getting the best out of his squad. But Jordan attempted to shut down the former Fulham captain.
He said: “Do you think Pogba if he was playing for Guardiola, or for Klopp, would do the things that he doesn’t do for Man United?” To which Murphy replied: “Yes! Did you see his performance for France in the World Cup when he man-marked Fellaini and won three headers in the six-yard box? He can do it, there are no repercussions for him not doing it at United.
“I’m not suggesting that a player can be totally changed by one coach, you have to have some sort of resilience from yourself.” Jordan agreed, implying that it is up to the player, by replying: “But they can be enhanced." Murphy then didn’t hold back from accusing Rangnick of not being a strong enough coach to deal with the big personalities in the United dressing room. “Rangnick’s hiding behind the fact that he hasn’t got enough physical, aggressive players in the squad to do what he wants to do,” he said.
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“Wrong. You’ve got three who don’t want to do what you want to do – one, because he can’t anymore, Ronaldo, and the other two ( Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes ) because you don’t consequent them for not doing it and you don’t coach them the right way to do it. Their defensive structure tactically is all over the place.
“ Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola, if they went to United and had as long as Rangnick, you would see players not playing if they didn’t do the yards. They don’t get that at United. Ronaldo will throw his dummy out if he doesn’t play, or whoever that may be. Rangnick’s gone in there with no experience of dealing with players of this calibre.”
Jordan and fellow host Jim White did interject on several occasions and made the point that players have to take responsibility for not buying into the vision of Rangnick and performing to the best of their ability under the coach, but Murphy stood firm. It remains to be seen if a new coach can get the best out of the more ‘difficult character’ in the dressing room.
