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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Stephen Killen

‘Unacceptable’ — Man United players warned to take responsibility amid Ralf Rangnick criticism

Former England international right-back Danny Mills has slammed the Manchester United players calling on them to "start performing".

In the aftermath of their 1-0 defeat to Wolves, Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has faced his first spell of difficulty in the Premier League as a familiar problem has arisen at Old Trafford.

Bruno Lage wasn't the first manager in the English top-flight to put the recently appointed head coach under some bother, after Norwich and Newcastle posed his side problems, but the Portuguese tactician twisted the German into moving to three at the back.

His half-time change didn't prove to be a masterstroke as Joao Moutinho scored the winning goal in the dying embers of Monday's defeat to give Wolves their first win in the red half of Manchester since 1980.

In light of the defeat, a number of players were reportedly unhappy with proceedings in the North West.

But, for Mills, he has directed criticism towards Rangnick's players after their tepid display.

“The new manager has come in and clearly has a system he believes in.," he told Football Insider.

“The players haven’t been able to grasp at the moment and it will clearly take a little bit of time. He’s also interim manager and we’re assuming he’s going to step upstairs and be a huge part of that going forward.

“The players have got to start performing. It’s quite noticeable and dramatic when a player comes out and says they’re not putting in 100 per cent. That’s not tactics. That’s not ability, that’s just unacceptable.

“Systems don’t win games, players win you games. Systems are a starting point when you haven’t got the ball. When you’ve got the ball, especially in the final third, you can tell the players you have to go and create. You can get bogged down by systems.

“You’ve got to work it out for yourself at times. You have starting positions to be organised but if there’s a man free on the ball, go close him down.

“Rangnick is not saying ‘Don’t leave this space’. This is not Under-8s football were the coach says don’t cross the halfway line. These are professional footballers who know how to play the game and know what to do.

“At the moment it comes down to the effort and application and Luke Shaw said it quite damningly.”

We’ve teamed up with LiveScore to invite fans to vote for their favourite results - the games which were much more than a score. Vote for the match that mattered to you here .

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