Scott McTominay has been tipped to become captain by Uniteds’ gaffer Rangnick, who also admitted Rashford needs a goal for his confidence
By Kehinde Okeowo
Manchester United defeated Aston Villa by a lone goal in an FA Cup round three game yesterday night at Old Trafford, with the goal coming from Scott McTominay.
It was far from a convincing victory as Steven Gerrard’s side had more shots, shots on target, and ball possession; they also had two goals chopped off after VAR decisions.
However, Uniteds’ coach Ralf Rangnick after the match said he saw a reaction from his team’s 1-0 home loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in their last Premier League fixture.
He went on to praise Scott McTominay for adding goals to his game but cautioned that he still needs to improve in his role as a defensive midfielder.
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Ragnick also said Marcus Rashford has been making efforts to improve his round performance especially goal scoring but added that he needs to score goals to regain his confidence.
When asked about Scott McTominay’s performance and his goal, he said:
“He is an academy boy, his energy is amazing. He now also started scoring goals and also with some leadership skills. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple of years he would be the captain of this team.
“It was a beautiful goal, but on the other hand we were still struggling to get control in the midfield.”
On if he saw progress in the team’s performance after the shocking defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League game that preceded the Villa match.
“Yes. To say that this was a perfect game, nobody would believe that, of course it was not. We still have quite a few things we can get better at but a clean sheet was important today and we worked together.
“There are still a lot of things to improve but it is easier to do that with a 1-0 win.
“We have to develop the team into a clean sheet team and that was another one today but still David de Gea was outstanding again for me today.
“Against their flexible midfield, at times it was difficult with their 10s behind our 6s, ahead of our central defenders. It’s not easy to defend that. It’s pretty challenging. After we changed to a diamond it got better.
“I think we showed a reaction after the Wolves game, that is what everyone expected from us. We knew it would be very difficult against Villa. In the first half, I thought we did well.
Rangnick speaking on Rashford’s performance and his goal drought said:
“It would be good for Marcus [Rashford] to score. As long as he is trying and training well I don’t see too much of a problem.
“He’s [Rashford] trying hard, doing well last couple of days, that’s why he was in starting XI. First half we tried to get him into the game but the second half was not as much the case, that’s why I decided to make changes.”
