Manchester United stumbled again in the top four race and Old Trafford legend Dimitar Berbatov warns they must cut that out if they’re to achieve a Champions League place
“If Liverpool, City, Chelsea and United go in for him then I think in the current situation he’s more likely to choose City or Liverpool, because it’s been eight years since United last won the title and they are a long way off the others.”
If you don’t win games against bottom of the table teams then success become a struggle. Manchester United’s game against Burnley was a must win and they failed. It doesn’t matter how, you just need to get the three points in these games.
United didn’t get the win last time out and that’s not good. On paper, there’s a big gap in class between their squad and their rivals for the Champions League places but they have to show that on the pitch as well.
They’ve taken a big step backwards in the top four race.
If you don’t win games against teams lower down the table then you will have issues, it’s no good just turning up in matches against the leading quartet , there are 15 other teams in the league you must defeat. If United don’t get all three points in these kinds of matches from now on then I don’t think they will qualify for the Champions League this season.
These are the types of games where you need to win ugly because Burnley like to bully opposition and they will always fight. United have to be smart in these kinds of matches and know how to win ugly, if not then it will just be a sixth-place finish at the end of the season.
Boring training sessions mean problems
I’ve read the latest reports that some of United players aren’t apparently happy with how training is going. If there is some truth to the reports and the training is a bit old school then it’s a problem because football is different now and you have to keep up with the times.
Manchester United players have compared assistant coach Chris Armas to Ted Lasso.
They have also hit out at Ralf Rangnick’s “old-fashioned” training methods.
Having been 6/4, Rangnick is out to 5/1 to still be in charge at Old Trafford at the start of next season #MUFC pic.twitter.com/sQVmbFGxvL
— Betfair (@Betfair) February 11, 2022
I’m not saying completely step away from the old school way of training but you have to prepare for matches a bit differently now. Coaches have to adjust and adapt and get with the times.
Rangnick hasn’t managed a team of United’s stature before, and I hope that if there is some unhappiness with training then things get sorted quickly. There are a lot of experienced players in the dressing room, like Ronaldo and Pogba, and if training isn’t inspiring and players start to moan, I can see there being problems.
A footballer wants to play with passion and joy, players want to look forward to training and take part in sessions with smiles on their faces. If you know that you’re going to training and all you are going to be doing is tactical work and running then trust me, there is no joy in that.
I remember when I was at Monaco, Ranieri was the coach and he just had us running round and round constantly, some players were throwing up, but us experienced players got together and spoke to him, we said: “it’s too much, the guys are tired.”
He took our feedback onboard and he knew that at the end of the day we were the ones going out on the pitch to play and we wanted to enjoy that and wanted to feel the joy of performing for him.
Sir Alex Ferguson got it spot on, he picked great coaches to work with us and they knew exactly how to get the best out of us.
In my case, I worked rally closely with Mike Phelan, who is still at United and Rene Meulensteen, they were excellent because they knew how to balance the physical part, the technical side and ball work. I used to look forward to training thanks to them, I was excited to go in and see what we were going to be doing and working on. If you don’t have that and a player can’t get excited for training then there are going to be problems.
Declan Rice will have a decision to make soon
Players want to win trophies, and with Declan Rice you can see his ambitions are big.
Although West Ham are a big club, are they capable of fulfilling his dreams? He’s been there for five years and when you know you’re a good enough player and teams come after you, at one point you have to make a big decision. Unless West Ham are challenging for the Premier League title I can’t see him staying.
He’s already been linked with a number of clubs and there’s going to be big money involved. He will know in his mind where he wants to go, he’s an ambitious guy and he wants to win titles.
If Liverpool, City, Chelsea and United go in for him then I think in the current situation he’s more likely to choose City or Liverpool, because it’s been eight years since United last won the title and they are a long way off the others.
But, he will have a choice to make and if he goes he has to go to a club where he is going to play.
“They aren’t getting £100m for Declan Rice… they’re getting more than that!”@AlanMcInally is sure that Declan Rice is top class & thinks that Manchester United aren’t even in the conversation for his signature!
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— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) January 27, 2022
Source: Betfair Premier League
