Ralf Rangnick is facing a new dressing room revolt with Manchester United’s players not happy about how things have played out after Jesse Lingard’s omission from Friday’s game.
Lingard missed United’s FA Cup defeat to Middlesbrough on penalties with Rangnick saying the player had told him he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to play.
‘He asked me and the club if we could give him a couple of days off just to clear up his mind and he will be back in the group, I suppose, next Monday, back for training and then be a regular part of the whole squad again,’ Rangnick revealed in the lead up to the game.
But, the former West Ham loanee took to Twitter to give his version of events after, posting: ‘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.’
Rangnick appeared to stick to his original comments after the Red devils crashed out of the cup though, leaving supporters bemused as to who to believe.
‘We were one outfield player less on the team sheet, so why would I have allowed him [Lingard] to have four or five days off?’ Rangnick said. ‘I would have loved to have had him in the squad.’
According to The Mirror, the saga playing out in public has not gone down well with some of the club’s players and the German coach now faces a new dressing room revolt.
It comes just a few weeks after he had a bust-up with Anthony Martial when he hit back at his manager’s claim he did not want to play at Brentford with United stars again unhappy with the drama.
With pressure growing on United to save their campaign with a decent run in the UEFA Champions League and a top-four finish in the league far from guaranteed, United’s senior players don’t want unnecessary noise around the club.
An insider told the paper: ‘It isn’t the United way to voice these issues in the media. ‘This is a time to stick together, not go public with things that might cause division.’
