Manchester United suffered their first defeat under interim boss Ralf Rangnick in Monday’s loss to Wolves at Old Trafford, but behind-the-scenes issues are growing fast at a club facing yet another crisis.
Ralf Rangnick is battling to unite the Manchester United dressing-room as he faces up to his first crisis since taking charge with cliques known to have formed within United’s squad and the interim boss is apparently facing many similar problems that forced the sacking of his predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
A source close to the squad has allegedly claimed that no less than 11 disillusioned players are thinking of leaving the club. An increasing number of players who had been marginalised under Solskjaer are reportedly on the receiving end of the same treatment under Rangnick, which has led to divisions within the United dressing-room. Moreover many of the players are allegedly unimpressed by his tactics, which has not been further aided in any way by his appointment as interim coach being official only until the end of the season, which has weakened his position considerably in the eyes of the squad
Defender Luke Shaw admitted United’s players were not pulling together in Monday’s 1-0 home defeat to Wolves and actually lambasted his team-mates for not displaying team spirit and solidarity. The resentment felt by players who have been consistently overlooked for selection is threatening the unity and harmony of the dressing-room, with Shaw suggesting there are issues within the group.
One source said: “It’s not good. The atmosphere is really bad and it looks like there are going to be big problems ahead for United.”
Jesse Lingard, Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly and Dean Henderson are among the players listed as being frustrated at their failure to be given a chance under Rangnick. While Solskjaer had been accused of having ‘favourites’ in making his regular squad selections, Rangnick is now facing the identical problem with the same group of players as Lingard and van de Beek have yet to start a Premier League game this season, while Henderson wants to go out on loan this month after falling back behind David De Gea in the pecking order.
Defender Eric Bailly, who is now on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast, is another player who has become increasingly disillusioned at his lack of playing time, despite United’s poor defensive displays without him.
Ex-United captain Gary Neville had pointed to divisions within the squad after a drab 1-1 draw with second-from-bottom Newcastle on December 27 and hinted at issues between Cristiano Ronaldo and skipper Harry Maguire.
Ronaldo, clearly cutting a frustrated figure in recent days, had headed straight down the tunnel at the final whistle against Wolves, making sure his annoyance with certain team-mates was evident in the defeat. Writing after that to his 386 million Instagram followers, the Portuguese destroyer called for “a higher spirit and a stronger mentality” from United in 2022.
Ironically, the Red Devils are running helter-skelter and have started the New Year in the worst possible way.