Ralf Rangnick has warned his senior Manchester United players that they must step up and match Anthony Elanga’s passion for the club if they are to be successful.
Manchester United put in another mediocre display in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid but were saved by a late equalizer from substitute Elanga, whose 80th-minute strike canceled out Joao Felix’s header.
After the game, Rangnick did not hesitate to admit that the Sun saved the day at United and asked why some of his senior players found it difficult to match the strength and urgency of the school.
“Anthony, in all the games he has played so far, he just shows that he plays with love, all the joy, and happiness,” said Rangnick.
“He just has fun on the field and is fully aware of his strengths, his assets, his weapons.
“It’s not just the goal he scored, he had two or three good runs, and whenever he did that you suddenly saw that Atletico had a problem with this kind of approach. But we have to show it elsewhere, not just by Anthony Elanga or one or two other players.
“We have to play like that everywhere and if we want to get to the quarter-finals in a few weeks at Old Trafford we have to play like that.”
Rangnick has been praised for the changes he has made in the game over the past few weeks, with Elanga’s third consecutive goal from United coming from a substitute, but the manager has ruled out a move to save the team.
I don’t know if I saved it but after playing well in the first half, it got better. What we played in the first half I still can’t believe, ”he continued.
“We played without sentencing, no violence that’s why we struggled. In the second half we did better, we played a lot of football in areas that were important and if we had played another 10 minutes we would have won the game.
“We have to play better in the first half, I was very disappointed with the game in the first half.
“When we faced the ball we were very nervous and we didn’t risk it. We only played our game and then it was difficult when we faced a team like Atletico. The goal is the same. This is how we have to play against them. “
