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Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick responds to Paul Scholes’ criticism of team vs Southampton

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick responds to Paul Scholes’ criticism of team vs Southampton

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Manchester United’s incapacity to master pressing, according to Ralf Rangnick, was evident in their 1-1 draw with Southampton.

United led 1-0 at halftime for the third game in a row, but conceded early in the second half, this time just a minute later than at Burnley on Tuesday night.

Southampton earned their point three days after beating Tottenham and lined up in their preferred 4-2-2-2 style under Ralph Hasenhuttl, a former Red Bull colleague of Rangnick’s.

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick responds to Paul Scholes' criticism of team vs Southampton

Rangnick used a 4-2-2-2 formation in his first five Premier League games in command of United, but it was dropped after a 1-0 loss to Wolves. United ‘aren’t used to [pressing] for more than 30 or 40 minutes, therefore we came into the game after that,’ Hasenhuttl remarked, and Rangnick admitted that this contributed to extra points being surrendered.

“I don’t believe it’s a matter of habit,” Rangnick explained. “It’s an issue of what kind of players we have and how they want to play; we can only change our habits as a team.” You may be confident that we address such issues on a regular basis, and that we do so even when we are unable to adequately train with them. It all comes down to being assertive and taking the final step.

“Our team has never been a pressing team in comparison to Southampton, and changing such habits in a couple of weeks without a pre-season doesn’t happen like that.”

Rangnick referenced United’s ‘anticipated goals’ figure, a dubious statistic that estimates how likely teams are to score when United has only scored more than once in three of Rangnick’s 13 games in charge and one goal in five of their previous seven.

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick responds to Paul Scholes' criticism of team vs Southampton

In a lengthy diatribe, Paul Scholes, who was on duty as a commentator, slammed United’s players, claiming that “certain players do not want to put in a shift for this club.”

“To begin with,” Rangnick observed, “I believe what Paul Scholes said was only one-third of what he said.” “I believe he stated three alternatives. I don’t believe the players are unwilling to do so because they dislike giving away points similar to the ones they have already given away.

“We were 1-0 up in the third game, and I don’t think anyone should imagine that the players don’t care or that they like experiencing things like that today.” This isn’t the case at all.

“The question is how do we get more compact, more vicious when defending the advantage with the group of players we have?” This is the biggest issue, but it isn’t due to the players’ unwillingness to do so.

“[The players] can be difficult, but the question is for how long and at what times, and if I look at the game, the goal we conceded tonight, similar to the one we conceded against Burnley, is much too easy.” Burnley and Southampton had no trouble scoring these goals, while Middlesbrough had a similar problem.

“It’s an issue of tactical discipline and being proactive in key times and not letting people to go by you if you’re being counter-attacked after being 1-0 up.”

“We’re surrendering fewer goals than we were before, our average is less than one goal, but scoring more than one goal doesn’t help.”

“Today, we should be 2-0 or 3-0 up in the first half-hour, but we gave up too many clear-cut chances in the first-half, which doesn’t make life any easier, especially against a club like Southampton, who are on a fantastic run, in excellent form, and in good shape.”

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