Yesterday Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at home in the Premier League in what was Ralf Rangnick’s managerial debut for the club. Here are five things that we learnt.
Fred Redemption
Since signing for Manchester United, Fred has been a very divisive figure. There have been some games where he has looked really good and his movement and energy have helpt keep some of the world’s best attacking talent quiet. Games against PSG or Manchester City immediately stick out. But there have been times where his work on the ball has made you want to scream at him. This hasn’t been too long ago either. The 1-1 draw with Chelsea where Fred tried to chip the keeper rather than play in Ronaldo. Not just that but sometimes he has constantly been misplacing passes and simple passes at that.
But in recent games he has really stepped up. His off the ball work has been really good. The way he can break up play and intercept oppositions attacks is a real asset. The license he has been given to move slightly further up the pitch has been a real transformation in his game. He is getting in great positions with his pressing. And then obviously that goal was just outrageous. The finish was sublime. And on his right foot as well. Let’s hope that Fred can continue this brilliant run of form and become a real key player in this Rangnick team.
Dalot Strengthens Position
Again, another player here in Diogo Dalot who is experiencing something of a ressurgene. There was a time when it looked like Dalot wouldn’t get another chance to be a regular first-team starter. But with the poor form of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Dalot has come into the team and shone. There have been a few times in recent games where he has made passes that we as United fans are just not used to seeing come from right-back. Dalot has been consistently putting in good performances and if that continues I think Wan-Bissaka could really struggle to get back into the team.
Much Needed Clean Sheet
For what seems like forever I have been predicting scores of 2-1, 3-1 I think even a 4-2 at one point. Because for the life of me I just couldn’t see United keeping a clean sheet. But on Sunday afternoon we managed to keep Crystal Palace out of the goals. And other than the one chance that Jordan Ayew had in the second half, Palace didn’t look like scoring either. It wasn’t that the entire back four and de Gea had world class games and that’s what saved us from conceding. None of them had bad games either. They all played pretty well. But for once we actually just looked comfortable and we were in control for large parts of the game.
Need to score chances
As comfortable and confident as we looked for large parts of the game, we still had problems. We were creating strong goal-scoring chances in the first half. But we just couldn’t seem to convert them into goals. And then we get into the situation of getting to the 75th minute still 0-0. It only takes one of those Palace chances to go in for the entire mood around the club to be completely different. Again this hasn’t been an issue for quite a while because everything else has been so wrong. But this is still an issue that will need addressing.
Rangnick Style of Play
Ralf Rangnick couldn’t have got much of a better result to start his Manchester United managerial career. Obviously there are still things to improve on, finishing chances and dominating the whole game being two of them. But, there were definitely signs of what Rangnick will want to try and implement in the coming weeks and months. Initially we started with a 4-3-3 but that quickly shifted to the 4-2-2-2, with Bruno and Sancho as the wide creative players and Rashford and Ronaldo up top. This formation combined with the high pressing style of play could really do well for Rangnick at United. Like I said there were definitely things that could be improved on, but I think given time these things could turn around with enough training. Let’s hope that this is the start of a really good run of results from Rangnick’s Reds.