Gary Neville’s recent comments against Manchester United, according to Rio Ferdinand, were a touch too nasty. The veteran center-back was speaking after United’s 3-1 win over Burnley, which extended Ralf Rangnick’s unbeaten record.
Rangnick’s first game in charge ended in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Despite the tight victory, the German coach was pleased with the encouraging performance, as the players seemed to pick up on his strategies right away.
Rio Ferdinand has talked about the negativity surrounding the club and how the manager and the players are putting in much-improved performances in the recent games.
As reported by The Express, he said:
“Against Newcastle we were poor. You can’t get away from that fact. But it is still two wins out of three, albeit against Newcastle who has been the whipping boys for a lot of teams. But a lot of the press that came out following that game, even one of my old mates Gary Neville, I thought we were in a relegation battle listening to the comments coming out of people and the way the mood around the club went to a negative place.”
“Yes, we haven’t played a brand of football that excites people or fans would have become accustomed to, but it wasn’t like Ralf Rangnick was taking over a team in form. You fast forward to the game against Burnley, you can say Burnley played badly but you’ve still got to perform, you know in this league you can be beaten by anyone.”
“Man Utd are a perfect example of that at home. But they made light work of them. Man United had to go out there and perform and get three points.”
The Red Devils then faced Young Boys in the Champions League, which was a dead rubber match, and Rangnick made numerous changes, so the dismal 1-1 result was not taken too seriously.
Manchester United then drew 1-0 with Norwich City, albeit they didn’t show the same degree of control or dominance as they did against Palace, and were almost unlucky to win.
Fans wanted to move on as soon as possible, but the 1-1 draw against Newcastle United was a shock, as the performances seemed to regress and defensive blunders resurfaced.
Rangnick admits to being disappointed on several levels, and his players looked to respond by handily defeating Burnley 3-1, yet the level is still not where he wants it to be.
