Ralf Rangnick has heaped praises on Manchester United’s display in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Crystal Palace and singled out Cristiano Ronaldo for his work off the ball.
The German boss took charge of United for the first time and recorded a maiden win thanks to Fred’s superb second-half goal, with the first half-hour of the game encouraging as they pressed high and got on the front foot.
There had been concerns that the player would not be a good fit for Rangnick’s style, but he worked extremely hard to track back and close down.
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His work off the ball did not go unnoticed by his new coach, with Rangnick giving him special praise, while he was delighted with the club’s display particularly after just one training session.
‘I am very happy with the way the team performed, especially the first half hour, with the pressing, it was exceptional. The only thing missing was the 1-0 or 2-0,’ Rangnick told BBC’s Match of the Day.
‘The way we defended, we had control of the whole game, the clean sheet was the most important part.
‘These are the things we must improve. We need to keep clean sheets. With just the one training session, I was really impressed. We did much better than expected.
‘We always tried to be on the front foot. We were never not apart from maybe the last five minutes. At all other times we were trying to keep them away from our goal.
‘We wanted to play with two strikers, especially in the central position. By the way, Cristiano Ronaldo’s work off the ball, chapeau!’
On Fred’s goal, and what the Red devils need to work on going forward, Rangnick said: ‘I had to ask my assistant coach if that was Fred’s right foot. I thought he could only shoot with his left! I’m happy for him.
‘It’s always easier to build on things after you’re successful. We must produce further clean sheets and get better at creating chances for our attack. Overall I was very pleased with the way we played today.’
