The manager of Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick has told his players to always communicate with him in person instead of ranting on social media. Recall that recently, two Manchester United players, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial had to take to social media to contradict the coach’s comments about them.
Earlier, Anthony Martial was left out of the Manchester United squad that took on Aston Villa in a Premier League game that ended in a 2-2 draw on January 15, 2022.
While explaining why Martial was not selected for the Premier League game, the Manchester United interim coach told reporters that the French striker was not available for the game.
On the contrary, Martial took to his Instagram story to stress that he was available for the game and would always be available for the club.
Afterward, Martial’s dream of leaving Manchester United to a club where he can play regularly came true when he joined Sevilla on loan at the tail end of the January transfer window.
Also, on February 4, 2022, Manchester United hosted Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the FA Cup without Jesse Lingard. Ahead of the game, coach Ralf Rangnick told reporters that Lingard requested time off to clear his head.
On the contrary, Lingard took to Twitter to stress that it was the club that asked him to take time off, adding that all is well with his “headspace”.
The club advised me to have time off due to personal reasons! But my headspace is clear and I’ll always be professional when called upon and give 100 percent
— Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) February 3, 2022
Unfortunately for Manchester United, the club went on to suffer a 7-8 defeat via penalties which ended the club’s journey in the FA Cup campaign for this season.
Ahead of the Manchester United Premier League game against Burnley which is scheduled to kick off at 21:00 later today, February 8, 2022, coach Ralf Rangnick stressed that he is not on any social media platform which means that he hardly sees his players’ social media posts.
“It’s always better [to communicate in person],” Rangnick said. “I never, ever read or communicate by social media accounts, I don’t even exist there, to be honest, I wouldn’t have time to do that.
“Therefore it’s always better [to communicate in person]. I always communicate with the players directly, as I did with Anthony Martial and with Jesse. But maybe I am a different generation, my generation never grew up with these kinds of things.
“For me, it’s always better to communicate directly, but again it’s time to look ahead. I know in both cases what I said to the players, and what happened, so for me, there is no reason to discuss this anymore.”
Ralf Rangnick has clarified the situation with Jesse Lingard and confirms their relationship is still "very good" 🤝 pic.twitter.com/xm391sNm3p
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 7, 2022
Mason Greenwood’s scandal prevented Lingard from leaving Manchester United according to coach Ralf Rangnick
Despite contradicting Rangnick’s comment on social media, Jesse Lingard whose contract with Manchester United will expire on June 30, 2022, will be available for the Premier League game against Burnley tonight.
Ahead of the game, coach Ralf Rangnick insisted that he still have a good relationship with Lingard, noting that he would have allowed the football star to leave Old Trafford last January but the scandal involving Mason Greenwood made it impossible.
Lingard can play as an attacking midfielder, and winger while Greenwood is used as a winger or a supporting striker before he was suspended due to the ongoing scandal he is battling with. This means that coach Rangnick would be short of options if he allows Lingard to leave when Greenwood is still unavailable.
“About Jesse, I have a very good relationship with him”, the coach noted. “He knows that I would’ve been willing to let him go, at least until the issue with Mason came up. All the other things have been spoken about, he [Lingard] mentioned some personal issues.
“But we have to look forward now. There are no problems whatsoever between myself and Jesse, and vice versa. I’m happy to have him in the squad and he will be a member of the squad for tomorrow’s game.”
