"Solskjaer had three years and Rangnick has had two months" – Martin Keown urges Manchester United to be patient

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has urged Manchester United to stick with Ralf Rangnick until the end of the season. He believes the German should be given some time to get things sorted as he is new to the Premier League.

Manchester United have not made the best of starts under Rangnick since he replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The German manager has five wins under his belt but the performances have been sub-par.

Martin Keown wrote in his Daily Mail column when he claimed the Red Devils should be patient with Rangnick. He added that Manchester United should be fine with the interim manager taking his time as Ole was given three years.

Keown wrote:

"Rangnick is a very intelligent tactician, but this screamed of a lack of preparation. The match was barely one minute old when Wolves beat United’s press for the first time. Rangnick did change system at half-time and matched up to the visitors, moving to a back three of his own with Phil Jones, Raphael Varane and Shaw.

"Aaron Wan-Bissaka moved to right wing-back, Sancho went to left wing-back and, significantly, Mason Greenwood played off the front two. But Rangnick, with his football knowledge, should have been making changes much earlier than at half-time.

"Rangnick will be considering what to do with his formation now. He has learned the hard way that he will not get the same protection that was afforded his predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was a great of the club. If anything goes wrong, he will get criticism by the bucket-load and it will come at him from all quarters. But he deserves time before being written off. Solskjaer had three years and Rangnick has had two months."

What next for Manchester United?

Ralf Rangnick has been appointed on an interim basis and the German is taking up a consultancy role for two years. Reports suggest Manchester United are looking to appoint Mauricio Pochettino or Erik Ten Hag as their next manager.

However, Rangnick cannot focus on that right now, as he needs to get his team ready for Aston Villa twice next week – once in the FA Cup and then in the Premier League.