‘My only concern, with that shape, was that when you come up against better teams… you could get punished.’
Wayne Rooney has suggested that he is ‘worried’ that Manchester United could be overwhelmed by ‘better teams’ with the current formation being used by Ralf Rangnick.
Since his arrival as interim boss, the German has opted for a 4-2-2-2 formation at United, with Edinson Cavani partnering Cristiano Ronaldo up front and using wingers such as Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho behind them in a four-pronged attack.
However, the Red Devils boss has been criticised for the system and suffered his first defeat at the helm on Monday night as Wolves secured a memorable 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
United’s all-time record goalscorer Rooney has stated that Rangnick needs to get the squad ‘working as a group rather than individuals’, but acknowledges that it is one of the most difficult tasks in football.
Speaking about the Red Devils’ season so far in an interview with Alan Shearer – which took place before the defeat at home to Wolves – the now-Derby County manager told The Athletic: “I’ve been to a few games, taken my kids. Obviously it’s been difficult for them.
“I think it had got to the point with Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) where everyone could see it was coming to an end. With the new manager now, you don’t know. I’m sure it’s a lot different to anywhere he has managed before. There’s a lot more pressure, managing a lot of high-profile players.
“I was at his first game against Crystal Palace and I thought they looked very good. My only concern, with that shape, was that when you come up against better teams — Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal — you could get punished.
“The most important thing is that the players need to buy into it. He needs to get them working as a group rather than as individuals.”
The defeat to Bruno Lage’s side leaves United in seventh position, four points behind Arsenal in fourth, and 22 points short of city rivals and league-leaders Manchester City.
Rangnick changed his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation to a three at the back at half-time, with substitute Bruno Fernandes nearly putting United ahead when he smashed his strike against the crossbar.
Sky Sports pundit Redknapp also criticised the formation after the match, claiming that it has led to a lack of identity.
Redknapp said: “We speak about managers coming into the game and he came in with this famed 4-2-2-2 system – it doesn’t work. When you come here, you have to have the right players, it doesn’t matter what system you play.
“Then he went to a three at the back, today he played 4-4-2 and at the end of it, I think he’s making up systems. There was no real identity of how they were trying to play.”
The Red Devils’ next match sees them host Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Monday 10 January, before facing them again in the Premier League on Saturday 15 January.
Related links:
- Man Utd’s Twitter post from start of the season goes viral after Wolves defeat
- Luke Shaw heaps praise on Phil Jones after ‘years of criticism’
- Man United fans left fuming by pitiful defeat to Wolves
