Wolves loss shows Man Utd have not improved since sacking Ole
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 3 Jan 2022 19:43 GMT
- 3 min read
Ralf Rangnick will be under no illusions of the scale of task that he faces at Manchester United following the club’s 1-0 defeat against Wolves on Tuesday.
The German has now overseen six matches since taking interim charge of the club and there has been little to get excited about.
Indeed, there has been little to suggest they have even improved since the departure of the maligned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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Sure, Man Utd are now in seventh (up one place since the Norwegian departed), only four points shy of fourth-placed Arsenal with a game in hand, but a succession of tight victories against a string of Premier League whipping boys, plus draws against Young Boys and Newcastle did not point to an instant revolution.
Indeed, a Wolves side straining to retain a spot in the top half of the Premier League table represented comfortably Rangnick’s biggest challenge to date – and even then, it was still a home match against an opponent that had not won at Old Trafford in 40 years.
Man Utd came up dramatically short.
Man Utd outplayed by Wolves
For much of the first half, they were comfortably outplayed, and while the home side got more of a grip on the second, they were notably sloppy in possession and struggled to fashion a chance worthy of the name from the best part of an hour.
Bruno Fernandes nearly shattered the bar when he should have burst the net after 65 minutes before Cristiano Ronaldo came to life with a goal disallowed for offside, but this was little more than a stirring interlude in an hour and a half of mediocrity. Joao Moutinho finding the corner of the net with a long-range shot as the clock ticked down only served to underline this fact.
And it has been an ongoing issue for the Red Devils under Rangnick. Only the first half in a 3-1 win over struggling Burnley has reached the standard befitting of his new club.
Perhaps this should come as little surprise. After all, in his 31 days in charge, he has had little chance to work with the players on tactics. Six games have been crammed into this period – and there would have been two more had it not been for a Covid outbreak that further reduced his chances to work with his team.
What Rangnick will have learned from his month in charge, though, is that while Man Utd might have the raw materials for a top-four finish, they are well short of putting these ingredients together to form a coherent plan.
In this context, it is too hasty to draw any definitive conclusions over the interim boss, who has not taken charge of a club in this manner since leading RB Leipzig in 2019.
Is this a hangover from the Solskjaer days or Rangnick simply not being up to par? Only the weeks ahead will provide an answer, but what is certain is that there has been no improvement in Man Utd’s fortunes yet.
