It's Ole Gunnar Rangnick!
At St James's Park, United played as if they were being managed by the ghost of Christmas past
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Newcastle 1, United 1
Going one down. Not waking up till half-time. Relying on some spectacular Dave Saves. Warming to the task, but still failing to see off a struggling team. Remind you of anyone? Even if we allow for some rust after their accidental winter break, Ralf Rangnick’s United are beginning to resemble Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s. And as Gary Neville said afterwards, with his usual vehemence, they’re turning into a bunch of whingers. Cristiano Ronaldo keeps getting hoity-toity with his team-mates while Bruno Fernandes remonstrates with the ref. These two possibly don’t follow English politics closely, but if they did, they would see just how annoying it is when powerful people refuse to take responsibility.
How do you solve a problem like Maguire, we asked in early November. Then he got better, improving under Michael Carrick, as several others did. Now he’s worse again – not just making a blunder that led to a goal, which can happen to anyone, but persistently dawdling on the ball, wasting precious time when United were chasing a winner. Four, five, six touches, followed by a pass so simple that it could have been his second touch. Every time he plays sideways, it feels as if he’s going backwards. And he keeps not scoring from corners. He and Rangnick need to put their heads together, watch some videos and work out why Maguire is so much better for England.
Raphael Varane, back after eight weeks out, blundered too, sharing the guilt for the goal – but recovered well. In the seven league matches he’s been fit for, United have two points per game and a goal difference of 12-5. In the other ten matches, it’s 1.4 points per game and 15-20. You don’t get disasters on his watch (like 0-5 v Liverpool), just the odd embarrassment (like 0-1 v Villa). He brings calm and order: if he was five years younger, unknown and playing for RB Something, he’d be a very Rangnick sort of defender.
The other key to the defence is Edinson Cavani, frantically defending from the front. Once again United conceded without him, then kept a clean sheet after he came on. He also scored, albeit with a poke off his shin. In my book he is still the rich man’s Ronaldo – younger, quicker, more industrious, and just as foxy in the box. I just wish he had Ronaldo’s ability to stay fit. Ronaldo himself, after finding Newcastle so accommodating on the day of his triumphant return, failed to draw a single save out of Martin Dubravka. In three games under Rangnick, Ronaldo has had two shots on target, with seven going astray. In two games and a bit under Carrick, he had five on target, four off. He’s out of form and out of sorts.
The 4-2-2-2 still isn’t flowing. Rangnick’s favourite formation has tightened up the defence at the expense of the attack. United have conceded only one goal in three games but scored only once in each of them. On trips to Norwich and Newcastle, you’d expect them to rack up at least six; instead it was one apiece. Playing two strikers should suit United, with Ronaldo, Cavani, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford to play the roles of Yorke, Cole, Sheringham and Solskjaer, but it’s no good if they don’t get the service. A midfield diamond might be a better way of providing it – and a more natural use of Fernandes, who would get back to where he once belonged as the No.10. He’d be joined in midfield by Fred or Nemanja Matic at the base, with Scott McTominay or Juan Mata on the right and Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard or the lesser-spotted Paul Pogba on the left. Doesn’t that sound more creative?