Do Man Utd lack a 'killer instinct' under Rangnick?
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 9 Feb 2022 09:38 GMT
- 3 min read
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick wasn’t interested in entertaining any notion that his side lacked a “killer instinct” after their drab 1-1 draw with Burnley on Tuesday night.
The Old Trafford side had two goals ruled out in the first half, only to see Paul Pogba’s legitimate goal get cancelled out by an equaliser from Jay Rodriguez in the second half.
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The result now means that Man Utd have dropped out of the top four and could fall as far as eighth in the table if other teams win their games in hand. Yet Rangnick remained adamant that his side deserved all three points after the game.
"We scored three goals! That is different to Friday. The second one that was disallowed, the linesman flagged foul but 10 seconds after that incident. This was a very soft decision I must say,” said Rangnick.
"Again we played an excellent first half. We controlled and dominated the game. We scored the three goals but two were disallowed.
"In the second half we were not aggressive enough. It was clear they would come out and be aggressive. The way we allowed them to score, we didn't defend the whole situation.
"A frustrating night for us because we should have won that game comfortably. We scored three goals in the first half so I couldn't blame the team for not having a killer instinct in the first half.
"In the end it was also a little question of luck. One point for a performance like this is just not enough."
— Mark Critchley (@mjcritchley) February 8, 2022
How unlucky have Man Utd been in front of goal?
While Rangnick could perhaps feel aggrieved at Man Utd not winning the game on Tuesday night, there isn’t a huge amount of data to suggest that his team simply aren’t finishing the chances that they create.
On the night Man Utd’s xG [expected goals] for the match stood at just 1.84, which suggests they may have created enough chances to score a second goal but by no means indicated that the Old Trafford side should have ran away with the game.
Indeed, over the course of Rangnick’s reign at the club, Man Utd have racked up a total xG of 20.35 from 12 games, with their actual goals scored standing at 16.
Although the Man Utd boss could argue that this would suggest his side should have scored an extra four goals over the course of those matches, it’s hardly enough to say that Man Utd have been great at creating chances and simply haven’t finished them.
