Manchester United yet again delivered a lacklustre display on Monday night as they were beaten 1-0 by a Wolves side who secured their first-ever Premier League win at Old Trafford.
There was little to admire about the team’s performance and the game was crying out for a switch in tactics because the original gameplan clearly wasn’t working as the visitors dominated possession and territory. United fans appeared particularly baffled when Mason Greenwood was substituted off despite being the home side’s best player on the night.
There were several areas that left the Old Trafford crowd confused and they all stemmed from interim boss Ralf Rangnick's in-game decisions. It would be unfair to truly judge someone’s capabilities after a handful of games but there are fundamentals missing from this team that must be addressed quickly.
In a Facebook Live on the MEN's United page, the United on my Mind duo Casey Evans and Anil Kandola discussed the fallout from the 1-0 loss on Monday, including Rangnick's in-game decisions and why they are showing that the formation isn't working.
CE : “One of the players who did play well, was Greenwood. He made a perfect chance for Jadon Sancho at the start of the match where he pinged the ball up the field, but he was taken off. The fans were very unhappy with that.
“A lot of our attacks were coming down the right-hand side but United persisted with Aaron Wan-Bissaka despite the fact he failed to get a cross in. Donny van de Beek at one point looked like he was coming on when we didn't have control in midfield but United persisted with the same players.”
AK : “We’ve seen throughout his (Rangnick's) career with him saying many times, he enjoys attacking full-backs. If you’re going to play with attacking full-backs, why keep Wan-Bissaka on until the 80-something minute?
“In terms of the actual substitutions that he made, the Greenwood one? I know this is very early on in his career at Manchester United, but when there’s a smattering of boos around Old Trafford like that, that normally makes for huge headlines because that is something we don’t see often.
“This is not something we can paper over and say fans disagreed with it and maybe a few of us at home did too. This is concerning because this is not something that happens week-in, week-out, it only really happens when things are looking bleak for the manager.
“Another issue I had was that [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer received stick for his substitutions and the thing that really relates to Rangnick is the fact they were always like-for-like substitutions.
“There was a lot of joy down the right-hand side but through Wan-Bissaka? There are so many options on the bench and even if you don’t want to go to the bench, with the starting XI on the pitch - alter things!
“If you’re chasing a game that’s not going your way- hold your hands up and admit you haven’t got it right today, which isn’t an issue if you obviously eradicate the mistakes you’ve made.
“I’m not going to sit here for one second and say that there are going to be serious doubts over Rangnick [right now], but they will creep in at some stage if these patterns continue to emerge.”
What do you think is going wrong at United? Follow our United on my Mind team on Twitter and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
