Manchester United coach, Ralf Rangnick expressed his disappointment with his team’s loss this week at Atletico de Madrid (0-1) in the round of 16 in the ‘Champions’ League’. He complained that the mattress players “always” were wasting time by putting “someone who was lying down” to gain an advantage.
“I think that the match never ran longer than three minutes consecutively, it was constantly interrupted by someone who was lying down. I also think there were some wacky refereeing decisions. The final verdict is that I don’t claim they were decisive, but at least he didn’t fall into the trap of wasted time. The extra four minutes were just a joke to me” The coach remarked.
“I believe we had very well in the first half exactly as we wanted to be played with high energy. We couldn’t convert it into a couple of goals. There were some moments when we could be scoring, yet weren’t.” Rangnick analyzed.
“Unfortunately we were unable to turn the energy into a couple of goals in the first quarter that could have been crucial to score the opening goal for ourselves. We lost that transition moment prior to the break and it didn’t make our lives. easier. I’m still convinced that it was an offence against Anthony Elanga a little bit before the counter-attack incident however the referee and linesman didn’t think it was in that way.”
“Honestly the first half was excellent but it was difficult to find the same rhythm in the second part. We also were aware that Atletico is very adept in defending their advantages” the manager recalled Rangnick and also warned at the press conference that preceded the game on Old Trafford.
In regards to the chances that his squad had, the head coach of the’red Devils claimed it was possible that the players could have altered their fortunes in the second period. “We experienced a couple of moments in the second period and we had a fantastic saving by goalkeeper. We knew full well that in this match you must score the first goal (to be able to have greater options),” he said.
On other subjects, Rangnick did not answer regarding his future plans. “My current focus is to get the team to the top of my ability in this club and then there’s ample time for me to discuss other matters,” United’s caretaker manager stated.
