Ralf Rangnick admits Manchester United squad unrest but denies Maguire Ronaldo power struggles
Ralf Rangnick has admitted that there was squad unrest at Manchester United but has refuted claims of a power struggle between Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo over the captain’s armband. He addressed the issue ahead of their Premier League match against Leeds United that will take place tomorrow.
Earlier this week, The Mirror had stated that there was a rift between Ronaldo and Maguire regarding the position of club captain. Supposedly, the German boss wanted to relieve some pressure off the centre-back and asked the striker to take over the mentor’s role for the youngsters. However, the interim coach dismissed the claim during his pre-match presser.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Manchester United official website), Rangnick has swept aside the rumour and declared it as pure “nonsense”. He added that the Englishman will remain the skipper for the remainder of the season and was adamant in his stance.
“Well, to start with, I must say that this is absolutely nonsense. I have never spoken with any player about a possible change of captaincy and Harry is fully aware of that and so is Cristiano, and all the other players. Harry is our captain and will stay our captain until the end of the season and there is nothing else to add on to that.”
Don’t feed such talk!
That being said, the 63-year-old did convey that there was discontent among some of the players within the team. However, he added that things have since improved as the squad size has been trimmed following the January transfer window.
Obviously, I have heard about what is written, I can only tell you from my personal experience in the last 11-12 weeks, yes, there were players unhappy until the closure of the window because, as I always said, the squad was too big. I think this has improved, for sure, and, from what I can tell you, the atmosphere in the locker room is better than it used to be a couple of weeks ago, for that reasons we just spoke about and, well, all the other things.”
By now, we must learn from the similar instances that have continued to happen for quite some months. Such talks are mere speculation and unless concrete evidence presents itself, there is little reason to fret. We can stop them if the fanbase as a whole decides to ignore such claims unless there is confirmation from reliable sources.
Samuel Luckhurst, the club’s correspondent of Manchester Evening News, has recently mentioned that the reporters are engaging in such antics to increase their online impressions. He also revealed how one Red Devils official confronted one of the journalists who admitted that the purpose was to increase online traffic. This if anything a sobering indictment of sports journalism.
More Manchester United News
- Harry Maguire denies claims of captaincy struggles with Cristiano Ronaldo
- Manchester United handed a boost as AC Milan fail to find common ground in Franck Kessie contract negotiations
- No contract talks between Chelsea and Antonio Rudiger amidst Manchester United boss’s interest
Given the club’s struggles on the pitch, the time is ripe for trouble makers to expand their footprint by feeding off the club’s negative vibes. As fans, the best we can do is to take everything with a pinch of salt unless otherwise confirmed by reliable sources.
