Manchester United is by far the most popular English club in the world. Add to that, the addition of global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo this summer boosted their popularity to even higher levels. The net spending of the team in 2021/22 season was 126 million euros which saw players like Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho, Tom Heaton and Cristiano Ronaldo arrive at Old Trafford. The onus was on the then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to make a team out of these brilliant world class individuals. He failed, and following a string of poor results, he was sacked. In came German coaching great and the so called "Godfather of modern day geggen pressing" Ralf Rangnick. Rangnick has had a reputation of stabilizing small clubs, building them up from scratch and giving them a young, fearless and attacking identity. Well that has not been the case at United so far, and by the looks of it, the players are getting fed up. Recent news coming in that almost 11 players want to leave the club is a sign of things to come. Amid, all this crisis talk, one wonders, what exactly is wrong at United? Read on to know more;
THE PLAYERS
They aren't good enough, its as simple as that. It was the same under Ole, and now under Ralf the script is same. They don't want to run, they don't want to press, they don't want to give their all. Ralf Rangnick's teams are famous for pressing the opposition higher up the pitch in order to win the ball back. But this United team, apart from the first half at Crystal Palace, are one of the worst pressing sides I've ever seen. The team never presses as a unit, rather its one two players who try to close down the opposition, but most times end up chasing the ball and wasting valuable energy. Lets look at the stats. In 19 matches in the league, United have scored 30 goals out of which 14 have been on the counter. It clearly shows the team likes to sit back and wait for the opposition to make a mistake and launch speedy counter attacks. That is clearly not the United way to do it, and hence the players are finding it hard to cope up with Ralf's intensive training methods, with reports coming in that many of them left the training ground before stipulated time after being confused and fed up of his methods.
A SHAKY DEFENSE
United's defense is shaky to say the least. Harry Maguire is slow and makes unnecessary errors every game. His poor judgement making doesn't make him fit o be the captain of Manchester United. Maguire has been the only constant at the heart of the defense, with Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and Rafael Varane all being tried alongside him. The sad thing is, all of them performed better than him when they played. Maguire isn't aggressive enough and backs away from challenging or putting in a block when required. Although his long passing is good, I really can't see how he fits into a system as intensive as Ralf wants it to be. Him being not fast enough puts his fellow center backs at a disadvantage while defending counter attacks.
Lets take a look at the fullbacks. Aaron wan Bissaka and Diogo Dalot have been the right back options for United. Dalot is offensively better as he is comfortable on the ball as well as puts in crosses from advanced positions. wan Bissaka is defensively better, him topping the charts in terms of interceptions and third for most tackles per game for any player at United this season. But him trying to carry the ball or trying to cross it is just appalling to watch. His crossing is extremely poor and looses out the ball too easily in dangerous areas. The left back situation isn't better either, with Luke Shaw still trying to find his Euros form. Alex Telles hasn't been bad in the games he started at left back, but he didn't doo anything extraordinary as well to retain his place. United have a cross success rate of 23%, which very very poor for any top club.
A NON-EXISTENT MIDFIELD
Scott McTominay and Fred have been the most used midfielders this season, and everybody can clearly see that they are out of their depths. No doubt they are energetic, run a lot, but are they world class? Do they have the quality to play a defense splitting final ball, or carry the ball over large distances? I think not. Fred is energetic and covers large distance in a match, but his progressive or forward passing is not good enough for this level. He is too error prone to play in a squad that should be challenging for the title. His usual partner in the midfield, Scott McTominay is no good either. Just like Fred, he has good energy and runs a lot, but the effectiveness of all this comes to nothing. Lets look at the stats. Fred puts in about 3 tackles every match, while for McTominnay its at 2. Its clear that they don't have the extensive passing range like that of Paul Pogba or Bruno Fernandes, whereas they can do better in a roaming role aimed at disrupting opposition plays. Rangnick has started Matic and McTominnay in most of his matches, but Matic getting old and McTominnay being too inconsistent has left the club short of good midfielders.
A FRUSTRATED ATTACKING FORCE
Is Cristiano Ronaldo the problem at Man Utd? In short, no. And before you say that I am being biased just listen to me. Anyone who has watched Man Utd play this season knows the crossing has been extremely poor. Ronaldo is no longer the lively 24 year old he was once at Man Utd. He's essentially a box player, but he initiates the press and at times drops down too. And while his shoot on sight habit has been a problem, you really can't blame only him. United create just 2.2 big chances per game, yes just 2.2! Most times the forwards don't have any choice rather than shooting from long distances. The wingers, Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho along with Bruno and Cavani form the main attacking threat. And its fair to say they have been poor this season. Cavani runs and runs a lot, but without any effectiveness. Rashford and Sancho seems to have lost their ability to dribble past players, while Greenwood is just too young. Bruno has also not been at his best in recent times.
Lets take a closer look at the stats. Ronaldo has scored the most goals in the league for United with 8 goals, followed by Bruno at 5. Pogba leads the assists charts with 7, followed by Ronaldo and Bruno both being at 3. Either of them being the teams problem is a laughable thought to say the least. The problem comes while scoring from dead ball situations. Half the season has passed and United have scored zero, yes zero goals from corners and free kicks. Its absolutely astounding how a team with Ronaldo, Bruno, Varane hasn't scored a goal from any set piece excluding penalties. The scoring rate is also a problem, with Ronaldo scoring once in 162 minutes, Greenwood at 259 minutes per goal is second in the list for United. Ronaldo on an average has only 1.3 shots on target every match which is the highest for United. This shows that the supply being poor, long range shooting and shoot on sight become the only viable option for the strikers.
A BEMUSING FORMATION
Lets start with Ole. He predominantly used the 4-3-3 but changed to a back five in his last few matches. Under Ole the team was, well lets say unimpressive. There were moments in which the team played well, but apart from that, the team lacked almost in every department. If it wasn't for Cristiano, United would have already been in the Europa League. Now Ralf Rangnick. He prefers the 4-2-2-2 formation and he has used it in all his matches till now. But does it really suite the team? United's current best playmaker, Bruno Fernandes can't start in a 4-2-2-2. He needs to play a roaming playmaker role to attain his best form. Playing Bruno on the left destroys his creativity and limits his area of exploiting the opposition. Rashford has not been good enough with Sancho still finding his feet. With all this and a disastrous midfield and defense, it only makes sense to play a 3-4-3 or a 4-4-2 like Tuchel did when he first came to Chelsea. Rangnick himself said he'll adjust his tactics according to the players he has, but he hasn't done that till now. So was all that loose talk?
FAVORITISM AND PLAYER UNREST
The last thing Man Utd would want at this moment is a player unrest. Well, that's exactly what his happening according to the current leaks. The dressing room is divided between the Ronaldo faction and the Maguire faction and it doesn't look well. I personally feel Maguire and his associates should really take a hard look at themselves before creating any ruckus. He is probably the worst center back at Man United and plays only because he is the captain. Him questioning the manager or a legend of this club like Ronaldo is ridiculous. The team harmony being in tatters, it will be an uphill job for United to even get top 4 this season.
Now, lets talk about favoritism. Well we all knew Fred and McTominnay were starting under Ole because of his likeness for them. Them along with Maguire, Shaw and wan Bissaka kept starting games even after poor performances. Under Ralf, this situation was thought to be changed. But his apparent likeness toward Greenwood even after his poor form is raising questions. Not starting players like Van de Beek can also be seen as targeted marginalization in the squad. All this, just to satisfy some egos, will hurt the club in the long run.
THE WAY FORWARD
United need to spend in January, especially in the midfield. They need players who are more suited for Rangnick's style of play. Here's some stats, possession lost by Man Utd players per game on an average- 1. Bruno at 18, 2. Luke Shaw at 15, 3. wan Bissaka at 13. The wingers haven't been better either. Losing the ball so many times and not counter pressing will not fit Rangnick's style. Here's another stat, Man Utd have had 88% passing accuracy in their own half which goes down to 75% in the opposition half. Of that figure, most of the passes are sideways and back passes. At times, there seems no urge to play progressive passes. Keeping useless possession, losing the ball easily, making wayward passes and wasting set pieces are some of the hall marks of this Man Utd team.
With news coming in that Ed Woodward is stepping down as the current CEO, the onus will be on the next guy in line to let footballing people take decisions at the club when it comes to matters on the pitch. The players need to be made to realize that no one is bigger than the club. The humongous salaries they are earning is ultimately being payed by the fans, and so its quite natural they will expect a better performance. In squad divisions should not be tolerated, and strict decisions should be taken in case it becomes absolutely necessary. And, with all that, a midfielder is needed. United can have whatever plan for the summer, right now getting a new midfielder, and if possible a new right back should be emphasized. Ralf must look into his tactics and should take an example from Ole, if you are not flexible enough, you are not good enough.
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Poster- Sayak Maity
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