Manchester United have named their team to face Burnley tonight.
Ralf Rangnick spoke about his frustration following the Middlesbrough cup game in his build up to the trip to Burnley.
“The more we watched those opportunities, those chances, that we didn’t make use of, we wasted, the more incredible and cruel it became,” he said. “Until yesterday, it was still difficult for everybody involved in the club to cope with it. In the end, this is football. This is what happens. In the end, it was us who turned it into a cup tie, in all respect of Middlesbrough, they did what they intended to do but, in the end, it was just us making sure we did not proceed safely.
“We should have safely proceeded into the next round. It could easily have been 3-0 at half-time, it should have been 3-0 at half-time but, at the end, by wasting those chances, we turned this game into a cup game. The second thing is maybe, in the end, we have to fault the team for is the behaviour before the handball goal we conceded. We did everything right in a perfect counter-pressing situation, halfway into their half, we just forgot to take the ball away from them. We did all the other issues that are necessary for counter-pressing, we closed down, took away time and space from them but, in the end, forgot the ball. It gave them the chance to change sides and, in eight seconds, all of a sudden, we’re down in numbers in our own box. Those are two issues we should have done better but, in the end, it doesn’t help.
“We are out of the cup, even if we watch these situations another couple of times. Now the focus has to be on the league and the Champions League.”
The United boss praised the performance of Paul Pogba on Friday night. “Originally, I didn’t intend to let him play 80 minutes but, due to the chronology of the game, we decided to have him on the pitch until 10 minutes from time, before being replaced by Fred,” he said. “I think he did well. He hasn’t played for two and half, almost three months, it was his first performance after such a pretty long time. I think he did really well. We are all happy to have him on board for the upcoming games.”
Team* TBC
De Gea
Dalot Varane Maguire Shaw
Pogba McTominay Fernandes
Rashford Cavani Sancho
