Ralf Rangnick: Manchester United are lucky to have a clean sheet

Man Utd boss Rangnick questions team’s body language after Ronaldo penalty earns narrow 1-0 win at Norwich

Ralf Rangnick questioned Manchester United’s body language after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty clinched a “lucky” 1-0 victory at struggling Norwich on Saturday. Ronaldo won and converted the second half spot-kick that gave Rangnick a second successive Premier League victory since he replaced the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United found it difficult to impose themselves for long periods and it took several fine saves from David de Gea to keep them on level terms before Ronaldo’s 13th goal since rejoining the club from Juventus in August.

‘Still room for improvement’

“It was a very intense game, very physical,” Rangnick said. “We need to be able to compete on that kind of level. There’s still room for improvement in this area. “The second half was a little bit better, but at the end, we were lucky to have a clean sheet. It’s another clean sheet, but still a lot of work to do. It’s also a question of body language and physicality and this was one of the major issues that we could have done better.”

Ralf Rangnick

Rangnick’s side sit in fifth place in the Premier League, level on points with fourth-placed West Ham, as the German aims to haul his club back into the Champions League places. While United must improve significantly on this mediocre display against the Premier League’s bottom club, Rangnick will take heart from successive clean sheets—a stark contrast to the woeful defending seen in the 4-1 loss at Watford that ended Solskjaer’s reign.

High-tempo game

Rangnick, who kept faith with the team that beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in his first match last weekend, wants to introduce a high-tempo pressing style to United. But after making 11 changes from the midweek Champions League draw with Young Boys, there was a noticable lack of energy about United at times.  Norwich were without several players after boss Dean Smith hinted at Covid-19 concerns in the squad on Friday, but they still matched United stride for stride. United were inches away from an early lead when Alex Telles’ free-kick deflected off the Norwich wall and cannoned off the crossbar.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!