Sunday Mirror

RALF IN PLAYER REVOLT

-

FROM BACK PAGE time off to deal with a personal issue. United suffered a shock exit on penalties at the hands of Championsh­ip Boro – and Rangnick stuck by his explanatio­n of why the England internatio­nal was missing.

It hasn’t gone down well in the Old Trafford dressing room.

Rangnick had a similar bust-up with Anthony Martial last month and some senior United players believe such problems should be addressed in-house.

An insider said: “It isn’t the United way to voice these issues in the media. This is a time to stick together, not go public with things that might cause division.”

But Rangnick has been given the task of qualifying for the Champions League during his six-month spell as manager.

And he feels he must be honest about the problems he is facing.

Martial declared he was fit and ready to play after Rangnick said the striker asked to be left out of his plans for the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa last month.

A deal was then done for him to join Sevilla on loan for the rest of the season.

Lingard, 29, also wanted to leave Old Trafford during the transfer window after playing just one Premier League minute under Rangnick since the German was appointed interim boss in December.

The player is out of contract at the end of the season after rejecting a new offer.

But Lingard hit back at Rangnick’s suggestion that he didn’t fancy facing Boro by explaining he had been granted time off by the club to deal with an issue in his private life.

United were also without striker Edinson Cavani (above) for the fourthroun­d tie after the Uruguayan was hit by jet lag following a match for his country in World Cup qualifiers.

Rangnick said: “Cavani played for Uruguay on Wednesday and it would not have made sense for him to play.

“And, with Jesse, I told you what my informatio­n was and my knowledge was.

“Of course, I’d have loved to have had Jesse in the squad.

“We were one o utfield player less on the team sheet, so why would I have allowed him to have four or five days off?

“I would have loved to have had him in the squad, but it was not the case and therefore it doesn’t make sense to speak about players who were not available.”

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? ANGRY
Lingard with departed Martial
ANGRY Lingard with departed Martial

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom