United have had this experience before, but manager Rangnick has not. After losing at home to Wolves on Monday night, Luke Shaw acknowledged the lack of unity among the players, telling the media after the game: "We need to bring more intensity and motivation, in the dressing room, we know what we want, but on the pitch in order to win the game, we all need 100% input. We now have time to refocus and maybe coaches can bring more ideas. ”
So, either Rangnick is trying to get his message across or some players aren't interested in taking his message. Of course, crises are the norm for United, but Rangnick doesn't expect that difficulty to be overhauled in a month. It was his first time managing a super club and dealing with the pressure that came with it, and if the players had ignored his instructions, the board should be held accountable for his temporary role.
'I knew from the beginning that finding the best balance between attack and defense was not an easy task. Rangnick said after the game. United have been underperforming tactically so far, scoring just one or fewer goals in four of his first five games in charge. Rangnick's short training time had a big impact on his introduction of elaborate and complex tactics, but he still made some mistakes, which exposed his lack of experience.
Take the defeated Wolves, for example, which is the most salient problem plaguing United, who are trying to create chances but they cannot maintain coherence in the defence. Rangnick may prefer to attack quickly, breaking through from behind with a vertical quick pass during the transition, but just as Chelsea have had the same problem lately, too much possession means you need to have organized possession of the ball and carefully navigate the blockage of the opposing defence.
When United used a 4-2-2-2 formation, which meant United dragged the ball to the side in hopes of passing the ball to the striker through the corner, United's possession situation was even worse, Fernandez either lost his position or could not control the ball, and the four dribbling forwards tried to work with each other without any organizers, thus losing their creativity. In fact, United's strikers always strangely pass the ball over short distances again and again, which didn't help the team. The situation is equally bad in the no-ball state, with more space 4-2-2-2 making it easy for opponents to counter-attack.
Over time, Rangnick can teach United players where to stand, how to move, how to apply pressure, how to avoid counter-attacks, and create transitional offensive moments that can solve most of the problems. But even so, the change in formation, and some adaptations to the dominance mode of possession, takes time, and more importantly, time is not on Lannick's side.
Obviously, the Manchester United players have too much influence and they seem to feel that Lonnick's position is weak, and if United's record does not improve, his advisory role may be withdrawn early and the situation may get worse before it gets better. The game against Aston Villa should alarm fans, and United's situation will not improve without changing the formation or simplifying the tactical system.
Happily, Rangnick showed flexibility in the second half of the game against Wolves, using a 3-4-2-1 formation to move substitute Fernandez to the best position and instructing Cristiano Ronaldo to run more on the side of the defender. When Lonnick was named United manager, he looked like a good candidate, but we underestimated how difficult it would be for him to manage a super club for the first time, maybe we underestimated the difficulty of getting tactical ideas in the middle of the season, maybe we underestimated the poor condition of the club when he took office.