MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United must forget about reports surrounding their next manager and focus on fixing their season, according to left-back Alex Telles.
Ralf Rangnick was appointed on an interim basis until the end of the campaign following the dismissal of United great Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the German to then take up a consultancy role at Old Trafford.
United initially showed promise under the former RB Leipzig coach, but have lost two of their last four Premier League games, having lost one of their last 15 top-flight games following Solskjaer’s departure.
That has left Rangnick’s side seventh in the league, six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, and with United already out of all cup competitions, pressure continues to mount.
Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag has reportedly agreed to take charge at United next season, beating Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino to the role, but Telles is not interested in that speculation.
“No, I don’t think it influences us because we know what we have to do,” he told Sky Sports.
“There are people at the club working on the new manager – but that’s for next season. And next season depends on what we do in these remaining games, so we need to stay focused.
“We can’t think about who the next manager will be, we need to think about working hard in our next game.
He added: “If I didn’t believe we can still rescue the season then I shouldn’t be here.
“We know the duty we have to meet our objectives. We can’t think of the games further ahead, we have a ‘final’ against Norwich City [on Saturday] in front of us first.”
The United squad has come under significant scrutiny, with the future of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba questioned, while Harry Maguire has been regularly cited as an issue in defence.
United supporter group The 1958 are planning to display their disapproval with the side and the off-field ongoings with a protest against current owners, the Glazer family, ahead of the clash with Norwich.
But Telles insists all the players in the dressing room are attempting to pull in the right direction amid distractions off the pitch.
“Everyone in the dressing room really wants to win,” he continued. “No player at this club doesn’t have this desire. We know about our responsibilities – we have families, we have dreams, we have objectives.
“We want to do the work, not talk and turn this situation around. We know the quality we have, we know the expectation the fans and the club have of us and we need to be prepared to do our best to change things for the better.”
United will look to get their top-four push back on track against Norwich, who they have defeated 12 times in their last 15 league meetings, and Telles suggested consistency will be key for Rangnick’s team.
“We need more consistency. We’ve started games really well, but there are moments where the opponents have been on top and then we’ve lacked solidity, which has affected results,” he said.
“We need to keep it up for 90 minutes. We know how quickly things can change in football and the team that concentrates best and really focuses will be successful.”
However, consistency may not be the only issue given United have to face Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in their final seven games as they fight for Champions League qualification.
