Manchester United news: Ralf Rangnick says Burnley is very direct, very physical

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has urged his players to figure out a way to deal with the direct and physical threat Burnley will pose on Thursday night. He wants his side to find solutions to handle that problem with both in and out of possession during the tricky Premier League clash. The Clarets visit Old Trafford three days on from the disappointing 1-1 draw at Newcastle United. On the back of that result, the Red Devils will be keen to get back to winning ways when playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in over three weeks tonight. It is also interesting to note that the meeting with the Lancashire club is United’s final match of 2021. Following a mixed year of results, Manchester United players would want to head into the new year with some momentum and Burnley is the last chance for them to do it in this calendar year.

Speaking to the club media, the manager previewed Thursday’s game, including the type of test he expects from Sean Dyche’s side. When asked what does he expect to see from his side in the coming game, Rangnick said, “Again, this will also be a physical one. Burnley is very direct, very physical and we need to have solutions against that, both on the ball and against the ball.”

Rangnick: There is still a lot of work to do

Burnley are a team like Newcastle, fighting for their lives to stay in the Premier League. When asked whether that makes it even harder to play a team like that, Rangnick replied, “Yes but this is Premier League football, most of the teams play like that, even when I watched the games [on Boxing Day I saw that], it is physical football. We need to take that on and be able to compete on that level.”

Despite not getting the victory against Newcastle United, Rangnick’s side can take a lot of positives from the fightback they showed in the second half to get an equaliser through Edinson Cavani. The manager was then asked what are the positives that he can take from the performance against Newcastle into the Burnley game and then into the Wolves game from there.

“We were 1-0 down at half-time and at that time, it didn’t look as if we would come back, and we came back. Even in the end, we had the chance to win the game and that was the good thing. The team was showing a reaction on the pitch. But in detail, there is still a lot of work to do,” he explained.