According to the Manchester Evening News, Ralf Rangnick addressed Manchester United’s midfield concerns in his pre-match press conference, saying that he needs to strike a balance before facing Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Monday.
This season, the 13-time Premier League champions have been anything but out of balance. Our team does not even come close to matching our on-field performances. However, one area, in particular, has been our major weak link this season: the midfield line.
This season, the Red Devils have used seven different midfield pairings. However, neither Ole Gunnar Solskjaer nor Ralf Rangnick has worked under them.
The recent slump in form is also attributable to the opposition being overrun in the middle of the pitch. The manager addressed all of these problems in detail ahead of Monday’s FA Cup match against Aston Villa.
He said:
“It doesn’t help if there is a profile missing. We need to work and want to work with the players we have. We have shown we are able to keep clean sheets with these players, but it is also what we are doing with the ball and without the ball. “
“I’m sure they are listening and we showed in the last games against Palace and Burnley, and parts against Norwich and Newcastle they are trying to follow the advice I give them. It is about balance. We need to find the best possible balance before offense and defense, and this is something we have to do to get better on.”
It’s no secret that our midfield line is in desperate need of reinforcements. It will be interesting to watch if we take any moves in January. Regardless, a certain profile is absent, as the gaffer pointed out.
We don’t have a good holding midfielder who can cover our backline while also supporting the frontline by directing the play.
We signed a center-back, a right-winger, and a center-forward in the summer. Although one could argue that the latter was a needless purchase, the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo joining Man City never appealed to us.
Also, not addressing the midfield was a mistake. We’ve paid for it all season, and Rangnick appears to be a powerless manager right now. Paul Pogba, perhaps our finest midfielder, has also been out since November with an injury. As a result, there is little to work with and much less to enhance.
Scott McTominay and Fred’s games have been inconsistent. Nemanja Matic is also getting older, and it’s not a good idea to use him every week. As a result, other than intensive training sessions, Rangnick won’t be able to do much to improve our midfield fortunes, especially if we don’t buy a player.
We won’t know Steven Gerrard’s starting lineup until the day of the game, but as United supporters, we anticipate our team to beat the Villans and beat them well.
We have some of the top players in the league, and we cannot use the FA Cup as an excuse if we go so early.
