Against Watford, Manchester United had 22 shots and failed to score even a single goal at home against a team who sit 19th in the table.
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Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United have slipped into a pattern of not being able to make their spells of dominance in games pay off. They may well take the lead, but they can’t put the game to bed. Against Middlesbrough F.C, they enjoyed 71 per cent of possession over 120 minutes and had 30 attempts at goal but lost in penalties. At Burnley, United saw 64 per cent of the ball and had 22 shots only to manage a draw in the end.
So that’s 52 efforts on goal in two matches and all they have to show for it is elimination from the one competition they might realistically win this season and demotion from the Premier League top four. Against Watford on Match day 27, United had 22 shots and failed to score even a single goal at home against a team who sit 19th in the table.
Read more: Manchester United vs Watford – Red Devils drop points at home
For much of the season, especially in the final weeks of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure, they played genuinely poorly. They lacked commitment and were slapdash when on the ball and jittery when opponents attacked them.
In a fair number of games during Rangnick‘s interim reign, and especially the last two, they have played well but haven’t reaped the rewards of their improvement. United give it full throttle from the first whistle but if the goals don’t come as they hoped, the nerves soon creep in.
Ultimately it points to a set of players whose confidence remains fragile, who don’t fully believe in their own capabilities and who lack that ruthless mindset that was a United trait for so many years.
Ronaldo is far and away their leading goalscorer with 15 in all competitions and his interventions ensured United still have Champions League football to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Read more: I don’t see myself away from Manchester United, says David De Gea
United, which changed its manager mid-season, now face an uphill struggle to finish in the top four and aren’t likely to win any silverware this season. It wasn’t quite how it looked in the summer.
From the looks of it, Rangnick won’t hang around next season as the manager if United are only in the Europa League. It will interesting to see if a top calibre manager like Mauricio Pochettino or Erik ten Hag can be tempted in to pick up the pieces.
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