Ralf Rangnick has told his Manchester United players to prove they care and are not reverting to their bad old ways.
The interim manager demanded "passion, emotion and intensity" ahead of Monday's FA Cup third-round home clash with Aston Villa, and admitted there are players who are unhappy within the Red Devils' ranks.
A dismal Premier League home defeat to Wolves halted early progress during Rangnick's reign, and the German boss said on Friday said it was "a step back... maybe a relapse".
Rangnick inherited the job from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club legend who was sacked once it became clear he could not get the best from United's talented and costly set of players.
Now that is the challenge for the experienced former RB Leipzig boss, and he has demanded the co-operation of the squad as a whole.
"We have made some progress, but obviously the game against Wolves was a step back, maybe even a relapse to habits the team has shown in the past," Rangnick said in a news conference.
"We need to insist and emphasise every time that we have to work together."
He repeatedly pointed to finding a balance between defence and attack, and called for a collective, fiery effort.
"We need to do it with passion, with emotion, with intensity," Rangnick said.
"This was the problem against Wolves, especially in the first half where we were only escorting them. It was only David de Gea who objected to them going easily to our goal."
Wolves had 15 shots before half-time in Monday's Premier League game, the most attempts any visiting team has had at Old Trafford in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game since at least 2003-04, Opta said.
Rangnick said a "different performance" was imperative for the Villa game, and said he was confident his players were making an effort to buy into his methods.
"They're at least trying, I'm sure that they are listening," he said. "We need to and want to work with the players we have.
"We've showed we can keep clean sheets, but it's also about what we are doing with the ball and without the ball. Once we have the ball it's about responsible decision-making, making the right decision at the right moment."
Villa have lost their last six FA Cup matches, their longest ever losing run in the competition, while United have won their last nine home games in the tournament by an aggregate score of 20-2.
They are unbeaten in their last 11 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup since a 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Arsenal in 2014-15.
Yet Villa have won in the league at United's home this season, so Rangnick is on guard.
History tells us there have been only three occasions of a team winning twice away at United in the same season – Chelsea in 2004-05, Tottenham in 1989-90 and Villa themselves in 1919-20. Villa, now bossed by former Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, would love to repeat the feat.
There have been rumours of discontent in the United dressing room, often centring around Cristiano Ronaldo, with speculation he might be unhappy or that others are disenchanted with his status.
How true any of that might be is unclear, and Rangnick says there are always bound to be players who become fed up.
"This is not only an issue with a club like Manchester United. If you have that many players and only 10 outfield players can play and three be substituted [onto the pitch], you have quite a number of players, in our case, 12, 13, 14 players who don't even play or don't even get in the squad," he said.
"Those players are not happy about that situation, it's obvious and it is clear. I tend to explain to players every two or three weeks why they are not playing, but obviously I can't do that in every game."
Some may move on during this transfer window or at the season's end.
"We have players with contracts expiring in the summer, maybe also one or two others who still want to leave, although they're on contract," Rangnick said.
"It's about the players to deal with that situation in a professional way. If I realise that is not the case I will address that to the players directly.
"Everybody has the chance and option in training to show up and get the chance to play. If this is not the case, the players together with the club and agents need to discuss the situation."
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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