Manchester United’s draw against Aston Villa left fans frustrated with interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
United had played well in the first half, but looked to be flagging in the second even before Bruno Fernandes doubled the lead.
Villa then came back into the game, with Carney Chukwuemeka and Philippe Coutinho making a difference from the bench to haul the home side back into the game.
When Ralf Rangnick reacted, it was too late. He made two substitutions to bring on Jesse Lingard and Donny van de Beek in the 88th minute, eight minutes after Villa had scored their equaliser.
Repeating Ole errors
One of the common complaints expressed about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as Manchester United manager was his decision making with substitutions.
Ralf Rangnick does not seem to be any better. The time to change Nemanja Matic was probably even before Fernandes’ second goal, and he should have started to try and manage the game better at 2-0.
Instead Rangnick did a Gerrard and let it slip. There were just four minutes between Villa’s first and second goals, but during that time United could and should have made changes.
Once Van de Beek and Lingard came on it was too late for either to make an impact despite their best efforts.
Fans frustrated
This was United giving away a win and coming away with one point instead of three. Frustratingly the players who started had done the hard part.
Supporters vented frustration towards Rangnick, who has underwhelmed in general and saw his side concede two goals in a game for the first time since he took charge.
Midfield decisions lacking
The decision making in midfield summed up the one coming from the very top of the club, which has refused to sanction a new signing in the area so far this transfer window.
Instead the club have taken a ‘yeah, it is fine it will do as it is’ approach, when it is clearly not fine.
Rangnick took the same approach when Nemanja Matic was flagging early in the second half, and just let him carry on and hoped it would work out. It worked out poorly.
A lack of options from the bench was evident, with Matic the club’s only defensive midfielder at the age of 33. Perhaps this game will prompt United to press ahead and finally make a move in the transfer window, but we won’t hold our breath…
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