February 13, 2022
OLD TRAFFORD REPORT, PAGES 8-9
Rangnick:
My players
need to
be nastier
SPORT
Ralf Rangnick accused his
Manchester United players of lacking
a nasty edge as they threw away a
lead for the third successive match.
United dropped two more points
in the race for Champions League
qualification after Che Adams scored
Southampton’s equaliser early in the
second half for a 1-1 draw.
It was a similar story last Tuesday
when, after dominating the first
period, United conceded a costly
equaliser against Burnley. That came
four days after United were
eliminated from the FA Cup on
penalties by Middlesbrough despite
again taking the lead in the first half.
“I don’t think anyone should
believe the players don’t care. The
question is: how can we get more
compact and aggressive and nasty
when it is about defending a lead? It
is the major issue,” Rangnick said.
“They can be tough but the
question is: for what period of time?
And for which moments? The goal we
conceded was like the goal we
conceded at Burnley. It was too easy.
It is not even difficult for Burnley and
Southampton to score these goals.
Against Middlesbrough it was similar.
That is very frustrating for me as a
head coach.”
As was the case against Burnley,
United were profligate in front of goal
yesterday. Cristiano Ronaldo, who
has now gone six games without a
goal, fluffed a number of chances, as
did many team-mates. In the past
three matches, United have had 64
shots but mustered only three goals.
That is not good enough for
Rangnick. “The other problem we
have is that we don’t take all the
chances we create,” he added. “It was
very similar to previous games,
unfortunately. Today we had an
expected goals ratio of 2.57 to 0.57 of
Southampton. Even today Harry
Maguire had two good chances,
Cristiano had three or four.”
The draw left United in fifth, level
with fourth-placed West Ham United,
who travel to Leicester City today.Paul Hirst
Antoine Dupont,
whose
quick-thinking
in the first minute
set the tone for
the match, goes
on a chargeblue
Brilliant
HUGO PFEIFFERWALES BOUNCE
BACK TO CRUSH
SCOTTISH HOPES
OF FIRST VICTORY
IN CARDIFF FOR
20 YEARS
PAGES 2-3
thesundaytimes.co.uk/sport
France put down grand-slam marker
with 30-24 win over Ireland, pages 4-5