April 24, 2022Lingard in ‘club
is disaster’ claim
Maguire left to
sit on the bench
Pogba tweets:
it’s not over
thesundaytimes.co.uk/sportSPORT
DID FURY
WIN?
FOR A REPORT
OF LAST NIGHT’S
BIG FIGHT, GO TO:
THESUNDAYTIMES.CO.UK/SPORTRonaldo may
have scored his
100th Premier
League goal but
he and United
are dejected
after another
huge setbackRangnick says
Man Utd’s
chances of
making top four
are over after
Arsenal defeat ,
pages 2-5
DAVID KLEIN31
ARSENAL MAN UNITEDThe air of soap opera surrounding
Manchester United intensified when
Paul Scholes said a conversation with
Jesse Lingard led him to believe their
dressing room was “a disaster” and
Ralf Rangnick offered only a moder-
ate rebuttal of that view.
Speaking on DAZN, where he was
analysing United’s 3-1 loss at Arsenal,
Scholes said: “It is an absolute mess, a
disaster of a dressing room. I had a
quick chat with Jesse the other day.
I’m sure he won’t mind me saying —
the dressing room is just a disaster.”
When asked about the claim,
United’s interim manager, Rangnick,
said: “I don’t know, you have to ask
Jesse Lingard if you have this informa-
tion. Obviously after games like today
or at Liverpool or Everton, there is
massive disappointment in the locker
room. That is normal. It would be a
problem if that was different.
“I think the whole group get on rea-
sonably with each other. I’m not dar-
ing to say they get on well, but I don’t
see an issue with regard to the atmos-
phere in the locker room.”
Arsenal scored twice in the open-
ing 32 minutes, Bukayo Saka adding to
Nuno Tavares’s early strike after a
penalty awarded for a foul on Saka by
Alex Telles, following a VAR review.
Cristiano Ronaldo replied with his
100th Premier League goal and
United were aggrieved not to receive
their own penalty when Cedric Soares
handled when stumbling as Jadon
Sancho dribbled into Arsenal’s box.
Other talking points included Ran-
gnick’s decision to drop United cap-
tain Harry Maguire and hand the arm-
band to Bruno Fernandes — who
missed a penalty at 2-1, when United
were ascendant. Asked why Ronaldo
had not taken it, Rangnick said: “He
told me after that he didn’t feel well
enough and that’s why Bruno took it.”
On Thursday, Maguire received an
email containing a threat to bomb the
home he shares with his partner and
two daughters, which was taken seri-
ously enough for Cheshire police to
visit his house with sniffer dogs.
“After the issues Harry had to deal
with, I decided to leave him out,”
Rangnick said. He also declared
United’s chances of securing
Champions League football next
season to be over. He said, “I
think it is not very realistic to
dream about the top four.”
On Friday, Rangnick said Paul
Pogba, who is out of contract in June,
had played his last game for United
after limping off with a calf injury in
the 4-0 defeat at Anfield. But Pogba
took to Twitter yesterday to insist: “I
will work even harder to come back
stronger and hopefully before the end
of the season. It’s not over.”Jonathan Northcroftgone
It’s