Rangnick admits decision to bring Elanga and Mata on did not pay off

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Ralf Rangnick threw on Juan Mata for his first Premier League appearance of Manchester United’s season in the defeat vs Everton.

Mata was chucked on when United were on the verge of their European exit against Atletico Madrid, thrown in from the cold.

And Rangnick did the same again here, but the result was the same – a disappointing 1-0 defeat against a committed opponent.

Rangnick was asked by BT Sport after the game why he decided to put Mata on when he had not played a league minute before mid-April.

Admitting it didn’t pay off, Rangnick said: “As I said, we had to do something! We needed a goal.

“I decided to bring more creativity from (Juan) and more verticality with Anthony Elanga but they were defending with all of their outfield players in the last 35 to 40 minutes.

“We didn’t find the right player at the right moment and we did not always have enough players in the box when we played our crosses into the box.”

Mata must be wonidering why he signed a new contract in the summer if he wasn’t going to play a league minute, even when other creative options were loaned out in January.

He is surely going to leave in the summer, with interest from Spain, Italy and MLS when his contract expires.

Mata has ability on the ball – that is clear – but his legs are not what they used to be and he cannot play at the tempo required.

That said, it is also hard when he just thrown into a middling performance without any match fitness and expected to turn the game around and it was no surprise when he didn’t.