Manchester United players have not been scoring from corners despite having more than 100 corners in the Premier League this season and almost a year without having a single score from corners.
The club Interim boss admits it is so weird that United have had over 100 corners in the Premier League this season and not scored from one. The Red Devils have taken 114 corners in 21 league games but seldom come close to scoring. They have not scored from a corner since Craig Dawson’s own goal settled a 1-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford in March.
None of the players has nodded in direct from a corner since Harry Maguire equalized against Sheffield United in January of last year. Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho, Alex Telles and Luke Shaw have shared corner-taking duties throughout the campaign but the delivery is often inadequate and Rangnick is bemused by United’s lack of a threat at corners. The Old Trafford squad has a lot to work on and still need to improve in those areas. They at least managed to score a free-kick against AstonVilla.
United’s Captain Harry Maguire in a past match. (Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Harry Maguire is set to return to the side today as Victor Lindelof is absent following a break-in at his house when his wife and two sons were present. The Red Devils captain has endured a chastening season and Rangnick’s comments about his bench role at Aston Villa last week suggested he had been dropped, however, the interim boss claims the England international was only fully fit again at Brentford on Wednesday night.
Harry, has been playing since the arrival of the interim boss and was in the starting XI but unfortunately received an injury when United played against Burnley and has since then been out for the last two or three matches. In the Brentford match, Rangnick did not want to change anything because he thought Victor and Rapha [Varane] would do well and their partnership was working well. Now, with Victor being out, Harry will play from the beginning today and obviously again he will still lead the squad as the captain.
United players during a past match.(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
With the back four, it shall not only be the individual performance of each player, but how they cooperate and work together and this is not the first time Harry and Rapha are going to play together. They have done it quite a few times in the last couple of months and it might be a very good partnership for today’s match against West Ham.
Rangnick seems to have found the best formation that would suit Manchester United’s midfielders ahead of the crucial clash against West Ham. Red Devils head into the match having returned to the winning ways against Brentford on Saturday, with the midfielder trio of Scott Mc Tominay, Fred and Bruno Fernandes impressing.
The Interim boss has now reverted to a more familiar 4-3-3, only with a slight difference from the mixed things up with the former 4-2-2-2 formation. The boss insisted that players have chances and freedom to play the kind of football where they are good at, both offensively and defensively with Fred being among the best ball-winners.
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