Ralf Rangnick is already solving a problem at Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to
Within the first four minutes, the game took a turn for the better. Manchester United won two corners and forced Crystal Palace’s first mistake within their own half. Scott McTominay’s committed interception in the sixth minute effectively altered the tide.
Five United players were in Palace’s third, and Marc Guehi stood back as McTominay glided in, provoking a scream from the crowd to mark the start of a new era at Old Trafford.
United have led at halftime in five games this season, but the goalless first 45 minutes against Palace were their most polished and complex of the campaign. The 4-2-2-2 configuration caught Palace off guard, and they appeared to be preparing for a different United. This was the same team that had defeated Arsenal three days before, but it was also very different.
Ralf Rangnick’s initial news conference on Sir Matt Busby Way on Friday morning, with divots still fresh on the ground outside, simply summarized the win, detailing his objective ‘to minimize the coincidence factor and have control and acquire control of a game.’ When Jordan Ayew appeared to be offside, Palace were reduced to one clear opportunity.
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United finally achieved the control that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been unable to achieve in over three years. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United was never a pressing team, but the United AD (after domination) is the new barometer of progress or regression: Since Ferguson’s retirement, Palace has had the joint-highest number of possessions won in the final third.
Rangnick’s penchant for a ‘double six’ formation before obtaining his work visa boded well for McTominay and matchwinner Fred. In the two weeks since Solskjaer’s dramatic farewell interview, McTominay and Fred have started all three of Michael Carrick’s games as caretaker manager, and a partnership that was frequently harshly mocked under Solskjaer has already displayed better tactical nous.
“If you play the way we did today in terms of intensity, being on the front foot, playing proactively, and having four offensive players ahead of Scotty and Fred, Jadon, Bruno, Cristiano, and Marcus, it’s critical to have players who are very disciplined, proactively aggressive against the ball,” Rangnick explained in the spartan flash interview room.
“Defensively, Scotty and Fred are almost perfect. In the first half, there were one or two or three errors, including two square passes, one from Scott and one from Fred, which I don’t like coming from such places in midfield.
“Overall, the other team in control of the ball, Fred and Scott, are nearly perfect,” says the coach.
McTominay’s refusal to be reprogrammed as a defensive-minded midfielder was one of Solskjaer’s worst mistakes this season. After scoring twice against Leeds last year, Solskjaer branded McTominay “an attacking midfielder by nature,” which was not quite correct.
McTominay began his career as a forward for the United younger levels, but he only scored three goals with the Under-21s in 2016-17, his most notable season. Due to his little stature, McTominay was unable to play for the Under-18s.
McTominay was identified as a deep-lying midfielder by Jose Mourinho, and Solskjaer added strings to Scot’s bow, transforming him into a more rounded player with goal-scoring instincts. However, it was not for the team’s benefit.
McTominay’s best performance for United came against Mourinho’s Tottenham two years ago as a destroyer. McTominay was more ferocious in the Europa League final than Paul Pogba, who had been moved to center midfield, and you get the impression Solskjaer meant it to be the other way around.
At Villarreal two weeks ago, Carrick ripped up Solskjaer’s plan for McTominay, and United went to a 4-4-2 out of possession. McTominay shadowed Callum Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea, and the winger went cold.
McTominay is still allowed off the leash to help United’s pressing, and he and Fred were the players who put the greatest pressure on Palace. Rangnick looks to have given McTominay, 25, a remit both with and without the ball this week. Carrick deserves credit for fine-tuning McTominay’s role and rescuing him after a disastrous first half against Watford, in which he was not totally fit, conceded a penalty, was booked, and then hooked during the interval.
Rangnick is expected to remain with his 4-2-2-2 formation against Young Boys on Wednesday in order to restore continuity and identity to a team that had been mired in inconsistency. That’s where United’s single specialized defensive midfielder, Nemanja Matic, would logically fit in. Rotating one player for another in the same formation is not difficult. As a player, Solskjaer was a natural at it, but as a manager, he failed miserably.
United is currently reversing the trend.
