Manchester United coach admits he has to compromise on tactics for Ronaldo

When Ralf Rangnick came to Manchester United, there was a lot of speculation about using Cristiano Ronaldo. However, in the end, the Portuguese remained a key player in the squad even under the German coach. However, as the interim coach himself has now announced, he had to make concessions.

Ralf Rangnick has the experience of being the head coach of Manchester United behind him. It can’t exactly be said that he has done brilliantly. In fact, the Red Devils are having one of their worst seasons since the inception of the Premier League.

When he arrived at Old Trafford, there was a lot of talk about Cristiano Ronaldo’s future. In fact, Rangnick has said in the past that he would never choose Ronaldo for his team. In addition, the German is known for being demanding of players regarding pressing, which was supposed to be a big sticking point.

However, during his tenure as interim coach, Rangnick has not said a single negative word about Ronaldo. On the contrary. However, before the last game of the season, he admitted that he had to make some compromises.

The Portuguese has netted 24 goals in 39 competitive games this season. Nobody else has done that. Compared to previous seasons, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani have been goal silent.

Moreover, Manchester United failed to qualify for the Champions League and as a result will still be happy at least for the Europa League. And although Rangnick does not blame Ronaldo for this, he is sorry that he could not find a way to reconcile his tactics with the play of the star Portuguese.

“Cristiano is not a pressing monster. He was never a player who fought immediately after a turnover to win the ball back. But the same is true of several other players. So we had to make some compromises and maybe we made too many,” Goal quoted Rangnick as saying.

Among other things, the German strategist noted that he has never been able to find the much desired balance in the team’s play with and without the ball. Because of the search for a compromise, his team had to attack from greater depth and never came close to the aggressive and proactive football he would have liked to practice.

“I am more than self-critical. I should have done better. I expected that with my coaching staff we could develop this team much better. We couldn’t do it and it’s not just the players who are to blame,” the German added.

Source: Manchester United, Goal, Transfermarkt