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United job is almost impossible, Ralf will need to find leaders

Patrice Evra Former Manchester United defender

IHAVE been travelling the world recently and the one question people ask me is what is going wrong at Manchester United. I don’t work for the club but I love them. It’s been a difficult time. It’s always sad when a manager is sacked. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a friend, so I talked with him and said: ‘Thank you’.

People forget really quickly that he is the man who made us believe in United again.

Now no one will be able to hide. I’m talking about the players because, when a manager gets the sack, the players should take responsibility. I’m focused right now on the players because they have to deliver.

Players have this bad habit of not taking responsibility. In my time, I was always going to the manager’s office if I could see a problem in the team, whether I was captain or not. I liked to be in charge of the health of the dressing room, which is why Sir Alex Ferguson loved me.

United are missing leaders and characters. We talk a lot about that and many of the ex-players agree. It’s not about shouting on the pitch, it is leading by example.

Under Ferguson, we had a winning mentality. Now United have a mix of young exciting players, plus characters such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani. But you need personality.

At United, you need to play for many years earning the respect of the fans and understand the story of playing for the badge, the passion.

There are many characters in this team who have come from outside, they have the image of outsiders, whereas the fans want to feel connected to the players.

It’s about work ethic. To get the United fans in your pocket, you need to bleed for the club, to give everything, to play with passion. I can understand some United fans don’t like it when they see their team lose and players post a video on social media laughing or whatever. It’s not fair because your private life is your private life and you should only be judged on the pitch. But you also need to make sure you don’t have distractions.

As for a new manager, it is a hot seat as you will always be compared to Ferguson. Any manager who comes will be quickly judged — under pressure — and won’t have time to build a legacy.

Mauricio Pochettino, one name linked, didn’t win anything with Tottenham, and if he comes in and doesn’t win anything after a few months, some will be saying: ‘Why did we get him? We want a winner.’

Yet when they had winners like Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, the fans were not happy because they did not play the United way. So you need to do both: play the United way and win. If you don’t, you’re going to be there a short time.

It is almost an impossible job for Ralf Rangnick but nothing is impossible in life. You need full support, patience, and results — you also need to win major trophies.

Let’s be realistic, this season’s Premier League title is out of reach. But the Champions League? Anything can happen. With a lucky draw, you can go to the end.

Chelsea is the perfect example. They didn’t have a good league campaign last year but changed manager and succeeded. That’s what we want — silverware.

I Love This Game by Patrice Evra, published by Simon & Schuster, is available from Amazon and other bookstores.

All Change At United

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2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/284185109084340

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