Rangnick bemoans lack of killer instinct in front of goal as Man Utd crash out of FA Cup
Manchester United players are reportedly ‘furious’ at the way Ralf Rangnick has handled the Jesse Lingard situation. The German claimed that the playmaker had requested time off following a failure to leave the club in January, something the England international has denied. But all isn’t well at Old Trafford, with the Glazers setting a minimum target for Rangnick to reach before he becomes a consultant in the summer.
United have endured a wretched season so far, struggling under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Rangnick.
And their campaign hit a new low on Friday night as Middlesbrough secured a sensational victory at Old Trafford to dump the fallen giants out of the FA Cup.
After that match, Rangnick doubled down on his previous comments that Lingard has asked for time off - despite the 29-year-old insisting he’d been advised to do so by the club.
“With Jesse, I told you what my information was and my knowledge was, and of course, I would have loved to have had Jesse in the squad,” he said.
"We were one outfield player less on the teamsheet today, so why would I have allowed him to have four or five days off?
“I would have loved to have had him in the squad but it was not the case and therefore, it doesn't make sense to speak about players who were not available."
Manchester United players are furious with Ralf Rangnick's brutal approach (Image: GETTY)
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Now, the Sunday Mirror claim United players have been left ‘furious’ at Rangnick’s handling of the situation.
It comes after the 63-year-old had recently claimed Anthony Martial had refused to play, before later insisting there had been a breakdown in communication.
United squad members can’t understand why Rangnick isn’t handling the incident in private, rather than public.
An insider is quoted as saying: “It isn’t the United way to voice these issues in the media.
“This is a time to stick together, not go public with things that might cause division.”
Rangnick, according to the report, has been given the task of steering United into the Champions League by the club’s owners, the Glazers.
And the German is adamant that he must be honest about the problems he’s facing at the current moment in time.
Lingard had wanted to leave United in the January transfer window amid interest from West Ham and Newcastle.
However, with the club loaning out Amad and Anthony Martial while also being forced to cope without Mason Greenwood, he was forced to stay put instead.