Ralph Rangnick is frustrated by the fact that he has been unable to implement his pressing style during his spell at Manchester United.
The German coach has been unable to lift the Red Devils during the second half of the season and they need to beat Crystal Palace on Sunday to avoid playing in the Europa Conference League next season.
“We had no pre-season, so we couldn’t really physically develop and raise the level of the team,” he said.
“I am the one who is most disappointed about that and frustrated about that.”
Rangnick highlighted Cristiano Ronaldo as an example of a player who is not suited to a high-pressing style.
“Cristiano scored a few goals, but, again, Cristiano – and I’m not blaming him at all, as he did great in those games – but he’s not a pressing monster,” he said.
“He’s not a player – even when he was a young player – he was not a young player who was crying, shouting ‘Hooray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls?’
“It was the same with quite a few other players so we had to make some compromises at one stage, maybe we made a few too many – that’s also possible – but, as I said, we never found the right balance between what we need with the ball and without.”
Rangnick went on to blame himself for being unable to turn the situation around at United since taking over as interim coach in December.
“I’m more than self-critical, I should have done better,” Rangnick said.
“I expected that me and my coaching staff could have developed this team in a more sustainable kind of way.
“We couldn’t and it’s not only the players who should be blamed, it should be ourselves. We all could and should’ve done better.”
Marca
