Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick insist his side must improve as a team as he defend Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane for their awful display against Newcastle.
Ralf Rangnick has rejected recent criticism thrown at centre-back duo Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane stating that they need to maintain their focus on the team’s improvement rather than on individuals.
Varane, returned from a hamstring injury and his error led to Newcastle goal in their 1-1 draw at St James’ Park on Monday, losing possession before Allan Saint-Maximin scored for the home side, while Maguire looked vulnerable at the back as United gave a poor first-half showing.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s game with Burnley at Old Trafford, interim manager Rangnick, whose side are unbeaten under his tenure, shielded the pair from the scrutiny they have faced, and said his side must improve collectively.
Rangnick said: “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.
“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 of the centre-backs, it’s a problem of the whole team that it starts up front. And you can speak also about the role of the No 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.”
Meanwhile, Sportscliffs.com reported that Manchester United legend blast United performance against Newcastle.
“They are a bunch of whingebags, their arms were in the air,” Neville said. “They got the last manager the sack and they will get a lot of managers the sack [playing] like that.”
Neville also hit out at Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes after the pair left the pitch and headed up the tunnel immediately after the final whistle.
“I think there’s something wrong in there,” he said. “You cannot run off the pitch at the end of the game and you have to clap the fans.
“It’s devastating for the younger players if those two best players in the team are looking at the others like you aren’t good enough.”
Source: Skysports
