Ralf Rangnick was compelled to quell talk of dressing room unrest whilst being candid in dismissing Manchester United\u2019s chances of finishing in the top four after crashing out to rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n
The 3-1 loss was accentuated by a Bruno Fernandes penalty miss, one that should have been taken by Cristiano Ronaldo but interim boss Rangnick revealed post-match the latter told him he \u201cdidn\u2019t feel well enough\u201d to take the spot-kick. The sentiment was perfectly understandable considering what the Portuguese ace had undergone regarding the recent demise of his twin baby boy.<\/p>\n
3 penultimate Arsenal goals \u2013 Nuno Tavares\u2019 first for the Gunners, a Bukayo Saka penalty and Granit Xhaka\u2019s fine strike \u2013 were all that was needed to secure the 3 points for the Gunners, who had actually at one stage were startled after Ronaldo had managed to halve the deficit with his 100th Premier League goal.<\/p>\n
United\u2019s legendary former midfielder Paul Scholes potentially exposed the path down the rabbit hole speaking as a television pundit when he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an absolute mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a disaster of a dressing room. I had a quick chat with Jesse (Lingard) the other day and I\u2019m sure he won\u2019t mind me saying that the dressing room is just a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, when the quotes were presented to Rangnick in the aftermath of the defeat, he immediately refuted the claims:<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, you have to ask Jesse Lingard if you have this information.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously after games like today or the games at Liverpool or Everton, there is massive disappointment in the locker room for sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is normal. It would be rather a problem if that was different so this is for me normal. I think the whole group, they get on reasonable with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not daring to say they get on well with each other but I don\u2019t see that there is an issue with regard to the atmosphere in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever the actual state of the dressing room, the result left United six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more with Rangnick convinced that Champions League qualification is now beyond reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the table and the teams with Tottenham and Arsenal, I think it is not very realistic to dream and speak about the top four,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked about why Fernandes took the penalty and not Ronaldo, Rangnick said, \u201cIt\u2019s between the both of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are penalty-takers. Cristiano told me after the game that he didn\u2019t feel well enough and that\u2019s why Bruno took it. In the end it was about two or three yards a little bit further to the right.\u201d<\/p>\n
While United slumped to another crucial defeat, Arsenal hastened their pace in their rejuvenation as the Gunners bounced back with commendable resilience from three consecutive defeats with a win at Chelsea and followed that up with victory over a rival contending for a critical top-four placement.<\/p>\n
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