‘Don’t be fooled!’ Paul Scholes disputes Ralf Rangnick’s Man Utd claim
Ralf Rangnick’s claim that his tactical tinkering was responsible for Manchester United’s alleged second-half improvement against Liverpool last night was dismissed by Paul Scholes.
Jurgen Klopp’s relentless winning machine suffocated Manchester United Friday night, as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 victory against their bitter rivals at Anfield.
Rangnick’s team selection before the game aroused eyebrows, with commentators and supporters perplexed by the choice to give Phil Jones only his second start of the season at the heart of a five-man defense.
Liverpool took just four minutes to expose Rangnick’s gameplan and open the scoring through Luis Diaz, and Mohamed Salah increased the lead midway through the first quarter to virtually end the game.
Rangnick responded at halftime by abandoning the Jones experiment and switching to a flat back four.
Following the introduction of Jadon Sancho, United improved and presented a semblance of an attacking threat, but late goals from Sadio Mane and Salah ensured the distance that exists between the two sides was fairly reflected in the scoreline.
Following that, a beleaguered Scholes disputed Rangnick’s claim that his management spurred a more positive performance from his team, claiming that it was more to do with Liverpool becoming ‘bored’ with playing with the opposition.
He told Premier League Productions: “He (Rangnick) is honest, especially in these big games. He’s probably a bit too honest.
“The stats don’t surprise you, Man Utd never laid a finger on any one of their players at any time. They were allowed to do what they want.
“I wouldn’t be fooled by the first 20 or 25 minutes of the second half. Liverpool were bored, it was too easy. They just needed more motivation really, to really step it up again and they went and scored whenever they wanted to so I wouldn’t be fooled by that.
“The motivation thing… United weren’t up for it and it’s difficult to take that. They should be up for any game, whether it’s Liverpool away or Watford away.
“But you need motivation from your coach. You play that many games and sometimes you just need a word from your manager and you think OK here we go again, you’ve got to step up and have got to be ready for the challenge of playing a proper football team.
“They looked bereft of ideas they looked lost they looked unenthusiastic, they looked flat and looked a group of players that were flat and there are a lot of experienced players in that team.”
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‘Don’t be fooled!’ Paul Scholes disputes Ralf Rangnick’s Man Utd claim
