“Get on with it and you won’t have any more embarrassing days” – Noel Whelan issues stern Rangnick advice to Manchester United players

Former Coventry City forward Noel Whelan has called out Manchester United players for their attitude in recent weeks. This comes after reports of a rift between Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo have emerged in recent days.

Fernandes has not been in the same kind of form as he has been since joining Manchester United two seasons ago. The Portuguese international scored 37 goals and had 26 assists in his first two seasons but has only five domestic goals to his name this season. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, has hit the ground running and has already scored 14 times for the club.

Whelan believes several Manchester United players have acted poorly in recent weeks. He said:

"Players expect a lot of money to come in, just do enough and then go out and play the game. No, it’s not like that. When you’ve got a club the size of Manchester United that have played and put in certain performances they’ve had to watch and been part of, they must know themselves lots of hard work is needed to be done to improve that team."

He added:

"They didn’t have an identity and didn’t have any way of playing. Now you’ve got a manager who is trying to give them all that and make them better players."

Noel Whelan also backed interim manager Ralf Rangnick and claimed his players simply need to get on with it:

"He’s trying to make them more competitive to get them closer to Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool. When they played them, they were all over the place. It was embarrassing at times. There wasn’t an identity, there wasn’t a structure to their play. Now you’ve got someone in that it’s not afraid of these big names. He’s going to work them and make them better. Get on with it and you won’t have any more embarrassing days out.”

Noel Whelan backs Ralf Rangnick to succeed at Manchester United

Ralf Rangnick joined Manchester United as interim manager in November after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The tactical transformation that he has brought in has already resulted in improved team performances. He has used a 4-2-2-2 formation in all his games so far. Besides the formation, there is a demand from the players to press consistently throughout the match in all areas of the pitch.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes reportedly believe that the tactical system does not suit the players that Manchester United currently have. Both apparently believe that Rangnick do not have the players who can play at the required intensity for 90 minutes.

If the reports are true, it will be fair to say that Manchester United players need to improve their fitness. The likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all have tactically-proficient coaches who have been trusted and backed in the transfer market.

Ralf Rangnick has started off decently and is well aware that constant improvement needs to occur in the coming weeks. If the rumors are to be believed, the club are ready to back him in the January transfer window.

Manchester United have had elite players for some time now. Finally they might also have an elite coach to lead them back to the glory days.