Man United falling into familiar pattern under Rangnick
Quick start, early goal, miss chances, concede, panic… and repeat: Wasteful Man United are falling into a worrying pattern with only TWO goals from 52 shots after their latest collapse at Burnley
- Manchester United were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at Burnley on Tuesday
- They dominated the basement side in the first half but could only score one goal
- After conceding to Burnley’s first shot on goal, their confidence evaporated
- United’s attackers are too wasteful, scoring only twice from their last 52 efforts
- That included the FA Cup defeat to Middlesbrough, which had the same pattern
- And they continue to be vulnerable in defence, tossing away hard-won leads
Ralf Rangnick had seen this movie before – and quite recently, too.
His Manchester United team had stormed out of the blocks on a wet night at Burnley, taken the lead, failed to build on it, conceded an equaliser, panicked and completely run out of puff.
What unfolded at Turf Moor on Tuesday night was essentially a re-run of what happened against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup last Friday.
Ralf Rangnick might well have been watching a re-run of previous Manchester United performances as they chucked away a lead to draw at rock bottom Burnley on Tuesday night
Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were unable to inspire a late winner in the pouring rain
United don’t lack attacking talent, including Jadon Sancho, but scoring goals is a problem
Rangnick’s United have slipped into a pattern of not being able to make their spells of dominance in games pay off. They may well take the lead, but they can’t put the game to bed.
Against Boro, they enjoyed 71 per cent of possession over 120 minutes and had 30 attempts at goal. At Burnley, United saw 64 per cent of the ball and had 22 shots.
So that’s 52 efforts on goal in two matches and all they have to show for it is elimination from the one competition they might realistically win this season and demotion from the Premier League top four.
Rangick raged at questionable VAR decisions in both games but really that’s beside the point. United, with their array of attacking talents, must find more of a killer instinct.
For much of the season, especially in the final weeks of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure, they played genuinely poorly. They lacked commitment and were slapdash when on the ball and jittery when opponents attacked them.
In a fair number of games during Rangnick’s interim reign, and especially the last two, they have played well but haven’t reaped the rewards of their improvement.
United’s draw against Burnley came just days after they were knocked out the FA Cup by Championship club Middlesbrough, losing on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford
Ronaldo had missed a penalty in normal time during that match as Rangnick’s side crashed out
Throwing it all away
Tuesday night was the eighth time this season that Manchester United have failed to win after taking the lead.
PREMIER LEAGUE
October 2 – Everton (H) Drew 1-1
October 16 – Leicester (A) Lost 2-4
November 28 – Chelsea (A) Drew 1-1
January 15 – Aston Villa (A) Drew 2-2
February 8 – Burnley (A) Drew 1-1
FA CUP
February 4 – Middlesbrough (H) 1-1 after extra time, lost on penalties
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
September 14 – Young Boys (A) Lost 1-2
December 8 – Young Boys (H) Drew 1-1
Burnley was the eighth time this season that United have failed to win despite taking the lead.
In the league games against Everton in October, Chelsea in November, Aston Villa away in January and Burnley on Tuesday they took at least a one-goal lead but could only draw. At Leicester in October, they led but ultimately lost 4-2.
The Middlesbrough FA Cup game we’ve mentioned and also in both Champions League group stage meetings with Young Boys, United led but couldn’t hang on to it, losing 2-1 in Switzerland and only drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford in what admittedly was a dead rubber.
Compounding the issue is the fact they aren’t scoring as many goals under Rangnick as they did under Solskjaer.
In the German’s 12 matches at the helm now, United’s much-vaunted attack has scored twice or more on only three occasions – at home to Burnley and the away games at Villa and Brentford.
Even when things began to quickly unravel for Solskjaer in the autumn, at least United usually looked capable of scoring more than once.
Of course, the flip side is that Rangnick’s United side are more defensively resolute compared to the Solskjaer team that were mauled by Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester City and even Watford.
But their defensive improvement isn’t so complete that they can win games 1-0 and so this inability to finish contests off is costing them dear.
Having been rampant going forward in the first-half at Burnley, and seeing two goals disallowed in addition to the one from Paul Pogba that did count, United duly conceded to Burnley’s first shot on goal in the 47th minute.
And that really seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. Having exerted so much energy during the first-half, their players flagged and couldn’t compete with the same intensity after half-time.
Paul Pogba did score for United at Turf Moor, with two goals also disallowed in the first-half
Edinson Cavani rues a missed opportunity as United failed to make their dominance pay
United’s top four hopes took a hit with the dropped points at Burnley as they slipped to fifth
It’s very apparent that United’s players are not going to subscribe to the hard-running, high-pressing style of football Rangnick likes. The ‘interim’ part of his job title equals a reluctance to fully commit to his methods.
But the drop-off in intensity towards the end of games is quite alarming and even the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Elanga from the bench at Burnley couldn’t rescue things.
United give it full throttle from the first whistle but if the goals don’t come as they hoped, the nerves soon creep in and this is no more apparent than in defence.
A grounded Marcus Rashford as United struggled to add to their lead at Burnley
Ultimately it points to a set of players whose confidence remains fragile, who don’t fully believe in their own capabilities and who lack that ruthless mindset that was a United trait for so many years.
United’s forward line are collectively responsible for their profligacy.
Ronaldo is far and away their leading goalscorer with 14 in all competitions and his interventions ensured United still have Champions League football to look forward to in the coming weeks.
He’s had 72 shots on goal in his 25 appearances, considerably more than anyone else in the team, but only hits the target with half of them.
The 37-year-old failed to make much impact during his 24 minutes at Burnley and then stormed off down the tunnel once again at the final whistle, just to ensure the focus was all on him yet again.
A United who changed manager mid-season, who face an uphill struggle to finish in the top four and aren’t likely to win any silverware this season wasn’t quite how it looked in the brochure when he returned last summer.
Surely he won’t hang around next season if United are only in the Europa League, regardless of whether a top calibre manager like Mauricio Pochettino or Erik ten Hag can be tempted in to pick up the pieces.
Man United fixtures
Premier League unless stated
February 12 Southampton (H)
February 15 Brighton (H)
February 20 Leeds United (A)
February 23 Atletico Madrid (A)
Champions League last-16, first leg
February 26 Watford (H)
March 6 Manchester City (A)
Marcus Rashford looked sharp enough on Tuesday night, having scored a stoppage time winner against West Ham in their last league outing, but he still only has five goals from 19 appearances since returning from injury.
Mason Greenwood, regarded as the club’s best finishers of chances, we’re not likely to see again for a good while, if ever.
Jadon Sancho has done precious little to live up to his £73million price tag and Edinson Cavani is, after all, a 34-year-old veteran who needed extra time off after recent international duty in South America.
Jesse Lingard remains in the squad but almost under protest having failed to get his expected move away in January, while Elanga is undoubtedly a talent but far from the finished article.
On the face of it, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba in the mix as well, there should be more than enough cutting edge in United’s team. Yet they seem incapable of scoring more than once in a game.
And United definitely need someone to put the ball in the net because there’s simply no trusting their back line, which seems to lapse into full-blown panic mode at the merest hint of danger.
For Harry Maguire to still be suffering from a ‘Euro hangover’, as Rio Ferdinand suggested on Tuesday night, is just ridiculous.
Rio Ferdinand suggested Harry Maguire was still suffering from a ‘Euro hangover’ after another nervous defensive performance
His leaden-footed attempts to get back and stop Jay Rodriguez when Burnley equalised really didn’t inspire faith in United’s captain, who’d earlier been responsible for Raphael Varane’s goal being chalked off.
Off the back of Maguire’s fine performances for England at the Euros last summer, the signing of Varane from Real Madrid was supposed to represent the solving of long-standing defensive issues. It hasn’t worked out like that.
Under Solskjaer, United would often put in Jekyll and Hyde performances from week to week. Now, under Rangnick, they seem to produce Jekyll and Hyde displays within the same match. Something has to change.
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