Ralf Rangnick insists he prefers communicating to players in person after Lingard contradicted the German’s comment on social media.
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has stated that he prefers communicating in person after Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial saga.
The United interim boss’ comments came in the wake of Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial posting contradictory messages surrounding their respective omissions from first-team matches in January as the pair were linked with exits from Old Trafford.
Martial secured a loan move to Sevilla last month but Lingard’s departure was vetoed, and his subsequent absence from Friday’s FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough saw him take to social media to reject his manager’s claims he had requested some time off to “clear up his mind”.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of United’s Premier League trip to Burnley, Rangnick was keen to draw a line under the affair and extolled the importance of in-person conversations.
“It’s always better [to communicate in person],” Rangnick said. “I never, ever read or communicate by social media accounts, I don’t even exist there, to be honest, I wouldn’t have time to do that.
“Therefore it’s always better [to communicate in person]. I always communicate with the players directly, like I did with Anthony Martial and with Jesse. But maybe I am a different generation, my generation never grew up with these kinds of things.
For me, it’s always better to communicate directly, but again it’s time to look ahead. I know in both cases what I said to the players, and what happened, so for me, there is no reason to discuss this anymore.”
Rangnick’s powers of communication will be tested again come the end of the season when the expiration of the contracts of Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata, and Lingard coincide with the end of his interim period in charge of the club.
Asked whether he expected any of the quartet to leave Old Trafford, Rangnick added: “I don’t know. It’s far too early to speak about that, and in the end, it’s also a question of what the players want and how the club see it.
“But these are not interesting topics for us right now, right now it is to get the best out of the season and these players.
“Even if they want to leave at the end of the season, the chance to get an offer from any club, including Manchester United, is to play well.”
Source: Skysports
