Ralf Rangnick has challenged Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United to find their scoring form after blaming poor finishing for a dip in results.
United were unable to satisfactorily bounce back from the shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough as they drew 1-1 with the Premier League's bottom club Burnley on Tuesday.
Rangnick's side had 64.1 per cent of the possession at Turf Moor and 22 goal attempts. Five of those were on target, but Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope was in excellent form, while United also had two goals disallowed.
Ronaldo started on the bench, but came on to make his 100th career appearance as a substitute.
He did not have the desired impact, however, having just nine touches, getting none of his three attempts on target.
Ronaldo has failed to score in any of his last five appearances in all competitions – the last time he had a longer run without a goal at club level was a run of seven games in December 2008 and January 2009.
Rangnick, though, insists United's players must all take the onus to improve and capitalise on the chances they are creating.
Ahead of Saturday's meeting with Southampton, interim manager Rangnick told a news conference: "It's not only about Cristiano. He should score more goals, it's obvious.
"We have created a lot of chances, but we didn't score enough goals based on how many chances we created. I think 70 minutes [against Burnley] was very close to the game plan, but now it's about rewarding ourselves and getting the results we should have deserved."
On Friday, reports surfaced suggesting United's players had been unimpressed with Rangnick's training sessions.
However, the former RB Leipzig boss shrugged off such talk.
"I don't know about those articles," he said. "The way the team has developed is obvious and that is due to the training, including all the analysis and the important training games, a lot of little games to increase fluidity and get better in possession of the ball.
"It's important that the players realise that there has been a good development in the last couple of weeks, that we controlled the games. But if we concede a goal, we should stick to the game plan and not all of a sudden lose shape and composure.
"This is the most harmful part, that we didn't stick to the game plan, we didn't have the same positioning on the pitch. When we analyse the games, this is what we have to do better. Not lose composure, shape. In those 15 minutes against Burnley we lost that shape."
United face a Southampton team who beat Tottenham 3-2 in their last outing, though the Red Devils are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League games against Saints, winning five of those fixtures.
Indeed, Southampton have won just two of their 22 Premier League away games against United (D4 L16), losing the corresponding fixture 9-0 last season, and Rangnick has only overseen one top-flight defeat since replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Ronaldo scored on his last Premier League appearance against Southampton, in a 3-0 win in December 2004. If he scores this weekend, it will be the third-longest gap for a player between goals against a specific opponent in the competition (17 years and 70 days), after Ryan Giggs against Norwich City (18y 84d) and Paul Scholes against QPR (17y 120d).
"We are fully aware that this will be difficult," Rangnick said of the game.
"I watched the game at Spurs during the week, they really deserved to win, tactically played a very high level. It will be a challenge, but I’m sure we will be up for the challenge. We need top performances for the whole game."
How does Manchester United’s current struggle compare to previous poor starts?
Manchester United have endured their worst start to a season since 1986, following Tuesday night’s Champions League defeat at home to Galatasaray.
United have lost six of their opening 10 games in all competitions, a tally not seen since the latter stages of Ron Atkinson’s managerial reign.
Here, the PA news agency compares their current struggles with previous poor starts.
37-year low
Erik ten Hag’s side were booed off the pitch on Tuesday after another disappointing performance at Old Trafford.
The 3-2 loss to Galatasaray was United’s second in successive Champions League matches – following a 4-3 reverse against Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich – to go with four Premier League defeats.
The Red Devils succumbed 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, compounding previous losses against Brighton, Arsenal and Tottenham.
A 3-0 win over Palace in the Carabao Cup last week was by far their most convincing of the season, with narrow Premier League victories against Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Wolves doing little to silence the doubters.
United’s total of six defeats in 10 games is their highest since the 1986-87 season – the year that Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of the club.
Under Ferguson’s predecessor Atkinson, United lost six of their first eight Premier League games, with a 5-1 win over Southampton in mid-September providing only temporary respite.
Atkinson was sacked in early November with United in the bottom four of the First Division.
No defence
United’s main issues under Ten Hag appear to be in defence, with the Dutchman having watched his side concede 18 goals already this term.
They have shipped at least three goals on four separate occasions – at home to Galatasaray and Brighton and away to Bayern and Arsenal.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana is yet to prove himself to be a significant upgrade on David de Gea, while a back four shorn of key injury absentees such as Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw looked all at sea against Wilfried Zaha and co on Tuesday.
Their total number of goals conceded is higher than the 13 shipped in the first 10 games in 1986-87, and surpasses anything seen in the Ferguson era or subsequently.
United also struggled defensively at the start of 2022-23, conceding 17 goals in the first 10 games – a tally matched only by Louis van Gaal’s first season (2014-15) and one of Ferguson’s early campaigns at the club (1989-90).
However, Ten Hag oversaw a significant improvement in the remainder of last season, with United going on to keep a Premier League-leading 17 clean sheets across the whole campaign.
Rasmus Hojlund says Manchester United must ‘stick together’ in ‘tough period’
Rasmus Hojlund says Manchester United must stick together if they are to emerge from a “tough period” that has put Erik ten Hag’s side under intense scrutiny and pressure.
Having won the Carabao Cup, reached the FA Cup final and finished third during the Dutchman’s first campaign in change, things have gone dramatically awry this term.
United have lost four of their opening seven matches for the first time in the Premier League era and are pointless after their first two Champions League group games.
There was no disgrace in the 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, but Tuesday’s 3-2 collapse at home to a Galatasaray side that had never won in England before is something else.
“Of course it’s not about the individual performance,” Hojlund said.
“It’s about getting the three points and at the moment we’re not doing good enough.
“We need to remember we can’t get goals (go in) right after we score.
“We’ve had a few games now where they just score after we scored.
“We need to go back and analyse that tomorrow and talk about it in the group.
“Of course it’s a tough period now but we need to stick together and that’s the only way we can get out of this period.”
Hojlund opened the scoring on Tuesday with his first Old Trafford goal, only for grinning former United forward Wilfried Zaha to level for Galatasaray.
Summer signing Hojlund raced through to score a superb second after he saw an earlier effort ruled out for offside, but Kerem Akturkoglu quickly equalise for the visitors.
That goal sent United into a tailspin. Andre Onana’s horror pass led to Casemiro getting a red card and the Turkish champions winning a penalty, which Mauro Icardi missed but quickly atoned for when racing through to dink home.
“We need to get some points now if we want to play in Champions League after the group stage,” Hojlund said ahead of matches home and away to former club FC Copenhagen.
“I am looking forward to playing against them because it’s a former club, my brothers are playing there, and I have a big heart for Copenhagen.
“But now I play in Manchester United and we need to get some points out of them.”
United players kept their heads down as they walked through interview area after a chastening loss in which Hojlund’s display was the only highlight.
The Old Trafford giants went for promise over a proven goalscorer when signing the 20-year-old international from Atalanta in the summer and he enjoyed his breakout moment on Tuesday.
“It’s about getting in there,” Hojlund told MUTV. “For me, I always try to get into the dangerous positions.
“Today I got the ball three times (there), if you count the offside goal as well.
“I’ve been bought to be scoring goals and now I was happy to score two today.
“Marcus (Rashford) and I talk to each other and he knows that I’m going to be there.
“He knows that I can keep up with his pace when we go on the counter and we saw a glimpse of that today.
“(The second goal) was a good feeling. I got cheated a little bit before because of the offside (with my second goal) but, yeah, it was an incredible goal.
“I like to call that a signature Rasmus goal – on the left side, running a lot so, yeah, it was nice.”
Football rumours: Jadon Sancho keeping contact with Borussia Dortmund
What the papers say
Jadon Sancho is looking increasingly likely to call time at Old Trafford in January. The Daily Mail, citing Sky Germany, says the 23-year-old winger has been in regular contact with former club Borussia Dortmund, amid his stand-off with Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.
Staying with the Red Devils, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite has emerged on the club’s radar for a potential January move. According to the Mail, the centre-back is viewed as a potential replacement should Harry Maguire depart the club in the new year. Branthwaite is also wanted by Manchester City, having impressed on loan at PSV Eindhoven.
And The Telegraph reports former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is open to replacing Michael Beale as Rangers manager.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Lionel Messi: The Daily Mirror says the Inter Miami forward will return to his first club, Newell’s Old Boys, when his contract expires in 2025.
Jeremie Frimpong: The left-back is set to re-sign with Bayer Leverkusen, according to the Daily Record.
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