'Need to be more physical'

MANCHESTER • Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has questioned Manchester United players' fitness levels and physicality after his team blew first-half leads in their last three games amid a drop in performance in the second period.

The Red Devils started brightly against second-tier Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, and Burnley and Southampton in the Premier League, before drawing all the matches 1-1. In the cup, they went on to lose on penalties.

Speaking ahead of the league visit of Brighton & Hove Albion today, Rangnick noted: "To be honest, I don't know if we are not fit enough to play that way (with high intensity) because... I came in the middle of the season.

"We had no pre-season and, in essence, we had in total two weeks in between where we could train in a normal way.

"If I watch the team in training and the way the team prepare for games, I wouldn't allow myself to say we are not fit enough to play like that. I don't think this is the case because then we would also struggle in the last 20 minutes...

"Against Burnley and Southampton, we showed we were physically able to play forward. We didn't always take the right decisions. We were not as composed and structured enough in the way we played in the first half...

"I don't think it is a question of physicality, with regard to fitness, yes it might well be... the players who we have are technical players.

"In the Premier League... you cannot win games only in a technical way. You have to show some physicality."

However, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O'Hara claims Rangnick is the cause of fifth-place United's struggles, calling him "a complete impostor".

He told talkSport: "Ralf is a complete impostor... I don't know what this guy is doing there.

"He looks like a school teacher on the sideline. The players have seen right through this guy. It's embarrassing... The players have got no confidence in the manager."

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson, meanwhile, said the club's plan to parachute the United boss into a consultancy role at the end of the season was a bad idea.

He told Sky Sports: "If they don't get in the top four, I'd be shocked if he went upstairs. I know that was part of the deal, but I don't think it's a good thing."

Former United captain Gary Neville disagreed, taking aim at the players who have been undermining Rangnick with "disgusting" leaks to the media.

Last week, there were reports that some players were "frustrated" by the German's "old-fashioned" training methods and had likened his American assistant Chris Armas to Ted Lasso, the hapless coach from the hit TV series of the same name.

The Premier League's all-time top scorer Alan Shearer hit out at "what a leaky, noisy, messy club they have become" on the Athletic but Neville was more scathing.

He told Sky Sports: "They are at it, the PR teams, the agents and the marketing teams, as a self-preservation for their own player...

"But what they do not realise is... we know who is briefing.

"I thought that was downright disrespectful - I did not find it funny at all that they were describing Rangnick's No. 2 as Ted Lasso and not only was it disrespectful, but I found it disgusting."

Against Brighton, United will be without Eric Bailly through injury and Mason Greenwood, who is suspended indefinitely. Nemanja Matic, Fred and Edinson Cavani are doubts.

The Seagulls are missing the injured Jeremy Sarmiento and Enock Mwepu, but Yves Bissouma could start after returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty.

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MAN UNITED V BRIGHTON

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