"I think someone has put a curse on us or something," David de Gea has said. "The truth is I don't know what's going on, I really don't. People always ask me and we talk about it as teammates and we just say 'we don't know what's happening'. We should have competed for more trophies, bigger titles. I just don't know why this team doesn't function."
There really are questions galore surrounding Manchester United at the moment. Puzzlement is rife.
The club headed into the winter break off the back of the high of having beaten West Ham United with the final kick of the game, but have since fallen to Championship side Middlesbrough on penalties and drawn against relegation battlers Burnley.
Rangnick’s side are in the midst of their theoretical most straightforward run for the remainder of the season, but extreme inconsistencies and fluctuations even within matches are causing underperformance against even bottom-half sides. Through March, United have to face top four rivals Tottenham Hotspur, sandwiched by away meetings with runaway top two Manchester City and Liverpool. Two Champions League ties against Atletico Madrid are also thrown into the equation over the next month.
It will be a taxing period upcoming, and the dropping of more points over the next three matches - against Southampton, Brighton and Watford - could see United in more of a Europa League battle come April.
There will have to be a reliance on the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal dropping points for United to almost stay in tact, which isn’t so ludicrous given the way the battle is panning out. As the cliche suggests, it’s almost as though nobody wants to finish inside the top four at times. If unexpected dropping of points prolongs amongst the aforementioned, then West Ham will be eagerly waiting in the wings - as may Wolves, even.
Saturday lunchtime’s opponents Southampton have, in fact, just dealt a blow to Tottenham, preventing them from drawing level on points with United despite their two games in hand. Goals inside the last 10 minutes from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams saw Saints overcome a 2-1 deficit, with Steven Bergwijn seeing a last gasp goal disallowed to ensure the three points returned to the South coast.
Ralph Hasenhuttl - an "excellent, excellent" apprentice of Rangnick's - has overseen an upturn for his side of late, making their way into the top half of the table (though some sides behind do have games in hand). Points were also taken off Tottenham in late December with a score draw at St Mary’s, whilst his side have beaten West Ham and more recently held Manchester City (for the second time this season) over the past couple of months.
Southampton have only lost twice in 12 matches in all competitions since the start of December, with an even split of draws and victories over the period. Even though the start of the season was more taxing for Saints, they still managed to hold Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United to a 1-1 draw - the first of 10 single-point hauls over the course of their league campaign to date. Hasenhuttl’s side’s seven defeats still outweigh their six victories in the league, but they are far from a relegation scrap comparative to the climax of last term.
The odds should be on United come Saturday lunchtime, given that they are 11 league matches unbeaten against Southampton - though six draws over that period may instill concern amongst the red ranks. However, this fixture last season did end 9-0 to United.
Southampton are currently 12 matches without a Premier League clean sheet, which should offer encouragement to a United side who have only scored in excess of a solitary goal three times in Rangnick's 12 games at the helm. United's shortage of goals hasn't been for a lack of trying, though, with 70 shots attempted in their last 300 minutes of football.
Cristiano Ronaldo has come under scrutiny for his inability to convert, dropping to the bench at Turf Moor having seen 10 shots go begging against Middlesbrough. "He should score more goals, it's obvious," Rangnick said. "I think we are creating enough chances and enough opportunities in the last couple of games but we just didn't score enough goals, but this is not only an issue with Cristiano, it's an issue with the other players. We don't score enough goals. If you bear in mind how many chances we create, and this is also something that needs to get better in the next couple of weeks."
The United interim manager later said, "We are fully aware that we did well both first halves against Middlesbrough and Burnley. Now against Southampton, and the same on Tuesday against Brighton, we need top performances for the whole game."
"If we concede a goal, against Middlesbrough it was after 65-70 minutes, at Burnley after 47 minutes, we should just stick to the game plan, not all of a sudden lose shape, lose composure. This was the most harmful part of it that we just didn't stick to that gameplan, all of a sudden, we didn't have the same positioning on the pitch."
After almost two weeks sidelined after a positive Covid-19 test, Rangnick has confirmed that Alex Telles could be back in the squad. However, Fred is still isolating, Eric Bailly remains absent with an ankle injury and Nemanja Matic "has some problems with his shin" that have prevented him from training.
Rangnick also faced questions about captain Harry Maguire, who was scrutinised for his performance against Burnley. "Harry had two and a half weeks out with injury," he said. "He came back, had a very good game against West Ham and I'm pretty sure he can perform at the same kind of level against Southampton."
Speaking more generally, Rangnick insisted, "That the team has developed is obvious. I speak regularly to the players about how they feel after the game and how they felt on the pitch, and I know that the players realise how much they have developed and improved their performance. Now, it's about taking the next step and getting the reward and also controlling at a higher level in the second half."
Luke Shaw has rejected suggestions that the players disagree with Rangnick's ways, dismissing them as "false".
"There have been a lot of things said about Ralf doing different things, sending people home with homework and the players being angry and unhappy about it, but it is false," Shaw said "I am really impressed with how he has come in, what he has changed, the details he brings and what he wants the lads to do is really good. Everything that has been written in the media isn't true because I see a completely different side of the team and with the manager inside here than what I read on the outside."
"The season so far, in general, is, of course, not good enough," the left back continued. "I think where we want to be and where we are now are two completely different places. We’re not in a position in the league that we want to be in - we don’t deserve to be with the results we’ve had. With how things are going, with the ups and downs, it’s not good enough for a team that wants to win the title."
"You look at the top teams and their consistency, they’re at a high level and are consistently winning matches. We haven’t been doing that. It’s something we’ve looked at and something we need to improve."
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