The problems continue. Maybe the most optimistic Manchester United fans thought that this match will be the beginning of a new ’era’, as the Red Devils defeated Villa in the FA Cup a few days ago and have not lost at Villa Park for 26 years, but no, it didn’t happen. United squandered a 2-0 lead in just 4 minutes, and on top of that, another problem in the dressing room appeared: Anthony Martial apparently refused to travel with United to Birmingham. Teams are allowed to field out nine players on the reserve bench and coach Ralf Rangnick named eight players, with two of them being goalkeepers. Ronaldo-less Red Devils barely survive at Villa ParkWith both Cristiano Ronaldo and Marlon Greenwood injured, the French forward who expressed his desire to leave United was in line to finally start, but he was missing from the squad completely, and after the game, the German tactician gave a stunning explanation. „He didn’t want to be in the squad. He would have been in the squad normally, but he didn’t want to. That is the reason why he was not traveling with us on Friday“ said Ranginck. Ralf Rangnick said Anthony Martial didn’t want to be in the squad against Aston Villa.Martial on his Instagram story: pic.twitter.com/SPlfUGPknF— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 16, 2022 Martial has not played since the 3-2 win over Arsenal on December 2 as he expressed his desire to leave on loan this month, with Sevilla already having had an offer rejected. United acknowledged his desire to leave but reserved the right to let him go on their own terms. The Frenchman was quick to deny accusations. „I will never refuse to play a match for Man United. I’ve been here for 7 years and I never disrespected and will never disrespect the club and the fans“ Martial wrote on his Instagram story. Ronaldo was a ‘sponge’ for older players’ advice, but these younger generations…It will be interesting to see how this thing will end. As far as the game is concerned, Ranginck saw many positive things and hoped that in the next two games his team will play as they did for the most part of the Aston Villa match. „It is very difficult to find positives after this, we have spells where I thought it was our best game since I have come here. We were completely dominant. We have taken steps forward, but there are still many things we need to improve on. The plan was to press them in the mid-zone, and we did that for the first 30 mins, they were some of the positives. When you are 2-0 you must defend better. We still gave away too many goals; we were not as compact and then conceded both goals. We were not as courageous, the way we prepared from our goal in terms of pressing was great. We have two more important games coming up, what we have shown today is a step forwards, this draw doesn’t feel like a point“ said Rangnick to Sky Sports.
