Lately, Manchester United fans got used to not starting the season with great expectations. Instead of a trophy, even one in domestic cup competitions, in recent years the goal has become qualifying for the Champions League, although the quality of the team has never decreased. Moreover, with each transfer window, it would become better and, of course, more expensive.David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Ole Gunnar Solskjer and Ralf Rangnick, none of the managers who stepped into Sir Alex Ferguson’s shoes, succeeded in bringing Manchester United back to the paths of former glory. A question appears – how come none of them is good enough? Or maybe the problem is something else? Former player and legend of the club from Old Trafford, and now a pundit working with BT Sport, Paul Scholes, tried to answer certain questions after the recent disappointment of the Manchester team against Southampton.”It was a bad seven days, really bad six or seven months, I don’t think the season was good enough. The sack for Ole was coming, we all knew , we all felt but – where was the plan? There must be a plan, there must be an elite, top coach who will revive this club. It’s Manchester United, he must have all the best, not bring a sports director to the position of coach. He has been a coach in two of the last ten years,” recalls Scholes.23.02. Wed 23:00: (2.55) Atl.Madrid (3.15) Man.Utd. (2.85)The former midfielder of the Red Devils notes that he did not intend to shift the blame to the account of the German expert.”Don’t get me wrong, I like this man, he’s welcome, but he seems to have lacked coaching experience in the last five or six years. This is a team of individuals, you saw the difference between Southampton and United today. Southampton were great, the coach, the methods, the way of playing, it was fantastic.”United on the other hand …”Then look at Manchester United and they are completely executed. McTominey is left to himself in the midfield, Pogba has left on his own in the midfield, and where Bruno Fernandes is playing – I don’t know. He is all over the pitch. The two wide players don’t work hard enough, not always everything in possession, sometimes you have to do ‘ugly’ things that are a bit painful. This team so often ‘jogs’ as it returns to defense and it’s so easy to play against.””One team have got a proper coach, the other have got a sports director which can’t be right for Manchester United.”Lucky Man United avoid defeat, Southampton have a big question for the refereeHowever, the problem is not the coach, ie the sports director in the role of manager, but the players and their approach, claims Scholes.”These Manchester United players don’t want to do the bad side of the game. You’re watching the game and it’s crystal clear to you that the players don’t want to give everything for this club which is crazy, really. Based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think the players are doing enough. There are a lot of very good players in the team, you could list each of them, but with talent you have to work hard.””Obviously he’s trying to set up his team to stand up to a team like this (like Southampton), but they’re either not listening, they can’t or they won’t do what they’re asked to do.”Manchester United’s last three games: ▪️ Knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough ▪️ Draw against last-place Burnley ▪️ Draw against 10th-place Southampton🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/97VIB7KjNB— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 12, 2022 However, Rangnick, as almost every coach would, after the draw with Southampton, defended his players and denied Scholes’ claims.”No one should believe that the players don’t care. The question is how can we become more compact, aggressive and ‘rude’ when we have to defend the advantage. That’s the main problem, not that the players don’t want to do this or that.”However, the German himself admitted that they miss the other, less beautiful sides. United lost a minimal advantage in the last three games in all competitions and remained without a victory in each of them.”Players can be tough, solid, but the question is how long and in what moments. If I look at the goals we concede, such as against Burnley, we conceded that goal too easily. It is not even difficult for Burnley and Southampton to score those goals. Against Middlesbrough also.”We were fully aware after the last few games that it would be important to be as compact, proactive and aggressive as possible and to avoid transitions where Southampton are very good, and that’s exactly what happened and ten seconds later we conceded a goal. For me as a coach, it’s very frustrating. We’re all very disappointed. That’s one of our biggest problems. “Tue 23:15: (1.70) Man.Utd. (3.80) Brighton (5.70)Rangnick points out that the progress in the defense is noticeable, but that it is also in vain if there is none in the attack.”Our team has a lot of quality players technically and it’s hard for them to stay compact for a long time. That’s one of our problems. The other is not using the chances we create. Today we had a xG of 2.57 versus Southampton’s 0.57. Harry Maguire is had two good chances, Cristiano Ronaldo three or four… We concede fewer goals than before, less than one on average, but it does not help us if we do not score more than one.”, concluded the German.
