(Football news) Being subjected to scrutiny is part and parcel of being at the Manchester United job and Ralf Rangnick is learning just how difficult a task he has on his hands after his team’s abysmal performance against Newcastle United. While the current Manchester United team is brilliant on paper, it has had long standing issues of not being able to work as a cohesive unit with a clear strategy that works to their strengths. More of than not, positive results have simply been a few moments of brilliance being produced by the sheer quality the players possess rather than tactics being implemented from the training ground. So what exactly is wrong?

For all intents and purposes, this is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United squad. The Norwegian set up his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring De Gea/Henderson as goalkeeper, Maguire, Lindelof/Varane, Shaw and Wan Bissaka in defense, Fred and McTominay as two defensive midfielders playing behind Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Greenwood and a lone striker up front such as Cavani or Ronaldo. Solskjaer had his favourites despite poor performances by many of his regulars such as Maguire, Shaw, Fred, McTominay, Rashford and Fernandes. While these players made his core team, they were rarely dropped irrespective of their performances despite a bloated squad and the likes of Lingard, Sancho, Van De Beek, Martial, Telles and Dalot on the sidelines. Right now, Ralf Rangnick appears to be making the same mistakes.

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While Rangnick prefers a 4-2-2-2 formation it has appeared to put a lot more stress on his fullbacks Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot. The pair are known for their attacking prowess but their defensive abilities are shaky at best. Combined with the fact that they don’t have cover from the wings due to the lack of traditional wingers who would track back and Maguire looking out of sorts in nearly every game, it’s a wonder how Manchester United haven’t conceded more under Rangnick’s time at the club so far. While the German can be given the benefit of doubt that he hasn’t been at the club for a long time and his time as manager has been marred by COVID-19 cases in the squad along with Carrington being shut down, his team selection continues to raise questions despite the evidence that several underperforming players need to be dropped.

Let’s take the Newcastle match as an example, the Magpies have been utterly woeful this season and have leaked 79 goals in 41 matches in 2021 – the joint highest total for any side during the Premier League era. However, they looked more defensively solid than Manchester United who were sloppy in possession to say the least. Bruno Fernandes gave the ball away 26 times while Marcus Rashford lost the ball 20 times. Additionally, Dalot (19), Sancho (14), McTominay (13), Telles (12), Maguire and Varane (11 each) and it is a wonder how Newcastle only scored a single goal. The current squad lacks accountability and think of themselves better than they are and the only remedy for the current predicament is if Rangnick becomes ruthless in his team selections and drops the ‘regulars’ on the bench and gives a chance to the likes of Van De Beek, Lingard and Jadon Sancho.